cupure logo
contributorletterstrumpwritestrumpsdontlabourcrisisrealheres

These words of defiant unity followed the horror of the 7/7 bombings. Imagine what we would hear today instead | Hugh Muir

A response by Ken Livingstone asserted London’s diversity – not as a weakness, but a strength. The politicians now peddling division should read itToday, at 8.59am, the teeming mass coursing through King’s Cross station in London fell silent. It continued to move, because the world must turn, but the hubbub ceased. Moments earlier, a strangely quiet, sombre loudspeaker announcement marked the moment the 7/7 terrorist bombs exploded in that station and elsewhere in the capital in 2005, killing 52 people and injuring more than 770.The capital moves on, but the capital remembers. I stood still for a minute underneath the glowing light of a digital clock. People offered knowing glances and nods as they passed to catch their trains. At the time of the bombings, I covered London and the London mayoralty for the Guardian. I remember being called by colleagues asking for information about what they had been told in the initial moments was a giant electrical failure on the London underground. I had been warned that week about the fears in official circles that some sort of terrorist attack was possible, if not likely. I rang a contact. “It’s not an electrical incident, is it?” “No,” they replied gravely, “it isn’t.” Continue reading...

Comments

Opinions