London Bombings 7th July 2005

01:30:22 o'clock GMT

I didn't know much about the terror bill till last Tuesday when I heard Tony Blair talking about it passionately in the Marquee after the Rememberance Service.  He was a man full of frustration and determination however he needed the support of fellow MP's and he wasn't getting it.  He said it was a "50/50" split and it could go either way. 

AOL News: Face Reality on Terror, Clarke Tells MPs this news article has a poll and unsuprisingly 59% of the AOL member base who voted have said they agree with the PM.

So why when the public are backing this bill are we facing a challenge by rebel Labour and Conservative mp's.  It's been seen as a "test" for the Prime Minister, this is not a time for political agenda's the nations security is at stake.

See if your local MP is in the list of likely candidates to go against the bill.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/popupWindow/0,,2005510795,00.html

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22:33:18 o'clock GMT

It's strange to think it's been a week since the remembrance service, everything seems to move really fast.  I arrived at the Cathedral for a rehearsal at 10am, florists were busy making adjustments to flower arrangements and the seats were still being laid out.

I'd been asked to take part in a procession of people connected with the Edgware Road bombing.  Joanne Wigget a paramedic held the candle together with myself and Steve Goszka, tube manager at Edgware Road.  We nervously ran through our task and hurried off to grab some lunch.

BBC Religion had managed to secure a rooftop right next to St Pauls and I agreed to be interviewed for something to go out before the service.  I'd always felt a level of guilt at being labelled the hero, when to me the real heroes were the people who lost their lives that day.  It was important I got this message across even if Huw Edwards contradicted me after i'd said it.

The service itself was quite surreal standing so close to these people i'd known for many years.  We were sat next to representatives from Gibraltar and the Virgin Isles.  I was intrigued to know who all the dignitaries were as my eyes scanned the cathedral.

After the service we made our way into a marquee outside St Paul's at sat down for a tea and a sandwich.  I looked up to see George Psaradakis sat next to me with his wife.  He was the driver of the Number 30 bus that exploded, he was supposed to have been too ill to attend due to a heart condition however here he was ! I wasn't suprised he had fought against ill health to attend, he has always appeared as a pillar of strength throughout the months after the attacks.

I met others who had been present in Marks and Spencers I especially remember one gentleman who approached me with his wife.  I had no idea who he was but he thanked me for what I did.  This meant a great deal to me, you can only take so much praise from the media and to hear it from someone who was there on the day did make me feel good.

I also met up with Garri Holness, he lost a leg at Kings Cross and has campaigned for quicker payouts for victims and bereaved families.  He shouted at me "YERRR the MAN !!" and I shouted back "No Garri .... YERRR the MAN!" half interrupting the Prime Minister who was having a conversation with someone next to us.

I spoke with Tessa Jowell as I wanted to express my thanks to the Department for Culture, Media and Sports who had worked really hard to organise the service and make sure it went without a hitch.  She nodded intently and I dragged over one of the "lackeys" to receive some praise from her big boss !

We ended up down the pub with a group of survivors from Kings Cross called "Kings Cross United" it made me ponder .... we need a "Edgware United".

 

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00:08:32 o'clock BST

I mentioned a few days ago about Kings Cross united, a group set up by survivors invovled in that incident who meet up and socialise.  They are still trying to find people on their train that day.  Rachel tells the story on page 26 onwards in Grazia this week and it's a really interesting read.

I'm on BBC Radio London this Saturday morning with Vanessa Feltz.  We are kick starting a campaign to get more Londoners to volunteer for organisations such as the Red Cross, St. Johns Ambulance and Victim Support.  A large number of people rang the casualty helpline offering their services but without any training.  This delayed families trying to trace their relatives from getting through.  For some it took over four hours to even get a reference number.

You can read about ICE (In Case of Emergency) and see their factsheets here :- http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/10/27/ice3_feature.shtml

 

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20:48:32 o'clock BST

I've recieved my tickets now inviting me to the "Service of Rememberance following the London bombings of 7 July 2005".  It was important to me that everyone affected did get tickets and had an opportunity to meet up after the service.  After alot of "discussion" with the Department for Culture, Media and Sports this has now been arranged, i'm really proud actually that I was able to input into this and organise somewhere people could meet up after the service.

I've never been to St. Pauls before but it looks a huge place.  The St. Pauls website (http://www.stpauls.co.uk) has a virtual tour but it's broken ! So I need to find the time to go sometime next week and check the place out.  I'm taking part in the "act of rememberance" at the service, i'm not sure at the moment what this involves. 

I know that the service will be lead by the Very Reverend Dr John Moses with a Sermon read by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The Queen and members of the royal family will be attending as will Tony Blair and members of the cabinet.  Her Majesty will be wearing a hat but I don't have to apparently ?!

The service is on Tuesday 1st November at 3pm and will be broadcast live on BBC One.

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22:48:38 o'clock BST

A lady called Rachel was on the Kings Cross train and has started up a support group for people on the train that day.  It's called Kings Cross United (KCU) and is a great idea.

I think the best thing people can do who were on these trains is talk to others who were in the same situation.  It's like one big puzzle and each survivor carries a piece to that puzzle.  KCU has over 30 people attending now to meet up for drinks and a chat.  Edgware Road doesn't even have such a group yet, however there is still time I believe.

You can read Rachel's blog here :- Rachel from north London

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00:05:06 o'clock BST

I was woken this morning by a call from a reporter from the Sunday Mirror asking me if I had seen the front page of the mirror.  I don't really buy newspapers unless I pickup a free Metro, if i'm not in London i'm not up before 11am usually !

So 8:45am this morning I dragged myself out of bed and headed up to the newsagents to grab a copy of the paper.  It was a suprise to see Davinia in the newspaper as I wasn't aware the "Pride of Britain" awards were even taking place.  I'm glad everyone can see what a star she really is and as I said on ITV news tonight she really is "radiant".  It shows how brave alot of people REALLY are, the girl who was hit by a petrol bomb and the guy who stopped an armed robbery are real life heroes !

I've been invited to Washington DC to be honoured by the Anti Defamation League (www.adl.org) they campaign for an end to terrorism and are very well respected in the states. More on this soon .......... 

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12:03:56 o'clock BST
Feeling Hopeful

It's 7th October, three months on and i'm late.  I had been invited to attend a memorial service on the other side of London by John Taylor whose daughter Carrie lost her life at Aldgate.

The service was due to start at 10:00 and it was now 09:40 I hailed a black cab a task so much easier than if you live in the Midlands ! I arrived dead on 10:00 and made my way over to where families and survivors were silently praying.  There was a fairly large media presence so I hid behind the cameramen and listened to "Major Anne" my friend from the Salvation Army who was reading from the bible.

This was the first time I had met anyone who had actually been involved on the day whether it be through surviving or through losing a relative.  The families are all extremely strong.

I met Marie Fatayi-Williams who lost her son Anthony at Tavistock Square.  Her son has a huge number of friends who are putting a video together of his life and have created a trust in his name.

I wasn't sure whether I should attend as I wasn't injured and I hadn't lost anyone however it was good to talk to the families and see how they were really supportive of each other.  I met sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, mother and fathers, they were all sure their loved ones would live on with them.

Davinia Turrell is on the front page of the Daily Mirror today.  Last night she presented an award to the emergency services at the "Pride of Britain" event.  I think the emergency services are the lost heroes in all of what has happened.  I served in the fire service but nothing can compare you for attending an incident or incidents of that magnitude.

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22:41:28 o'clock BST

I'm going to keep this short and to the point because it's all been said before by far more eloquent people than me.

And our words have no impact upon you, therefore I'm going to talk to you in a language that you understand.

Our words are dead until we give them life with our blood.

I'm sure by now the media's painted a suitable picture of me, this predictable propaganda machine will naturally try to put a spin on things to suit the government and to scare the masses into conforming to their power and wealth-obsessed agendas.

I and thousands like me are forsaking everything for what we believe.

Our driving motivation doesn't come from tangible commodities that this world has to offer.

Our religion is Islam - obedience to the one true God, Allah, and following the footsteps of the final prophet and messenger Muhammad... This is how our ethical stances are dictated.

Your democratically elected governments continuously perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world.

It is not known when the videotape, aired on 1 September, was madeAnd your support of them makes you directly responsible, just as I am directly responsible for protecting and avenging my Muslim brothers and sisters.

Until we feel security, you will be our targets. And until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people we will not stop this fight.

We are at war and I am a soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation.

A second part of the tape was less clear, but he could be heard saying:

I myself, I myself, I make dua (pray) to Allah... to raise me amongst those whom I love like the prophets, the messengers, the martyrs and today's heroes like our beloved Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, Dr Ayman al-Zawahri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and all the other brothers and sisters that are fighting in the... of this cause.

With this I leave you to make up your own minds and I ask you to make dua to Allah almighty to accept the work from me and my brothers and enter us into gardens of paradise.

Sidique Khan's words are those of a disillusioned islamic terrorist.  We don't need his blood to understand the message he needed so badly to get to us.  By killing himself and the others that day at Edgware Road he united the country in defiance against his cause, his beliefs and his aim.

We don't all condone the labour government for taking us to war.  We don't all vote in general elections.  However what we believe is that terrorism will not pay, no matter what the loss of life and no matter in which country.

The sooner they realise they are in the extreme minority the better.

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18:56:40 o'clock BST

Hi,

I thought you might be interested in watching the below programme tonight.  I haven't seen it yet but it will tell the story of 7th July with recounts from people involved and injured on the day.

Time - 21:00 - 22:30 (1 hour and 30 minutes long) When - Wednesday 14th September on five Documentary recounting the full story of how four young Muslims from Yorkshire became Britain's first suicide bombers when they detonated their rucksack bombs killing 52 people and injuring 700 others. This powerful film follows the journeys of the bombers as it intersected fatefully with innocent commuters and travellers crossing the capital on public transport. Survivors and relatives of those who died give moving first-hand accounts.

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00:22:00 o'clock BST
Feeling Quiet

I recently decided to search news articles about the bombings and found a few interesting articles.

I stumbled across an online magazine called "The Digital Journalist" two of the photographers who took pictures of myself and Davinia have wrote about their experiences of that day.  It's interesting to read what they got up to before and after the explosions.

http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0508/dis-mingay.html Jane Mingay's Story

http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0508/dis-terakopian.html Edmund Terakopian's Story

I also found a website called "BagNews" they discuss recent images that have been in the press in MINUTE detail.

http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2005/07/thursday_mornin.html

and again

http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2005/07/after_the_londo.html

The above link interests me because a number of people comment that the picture looks staged and maybe the "young lady" took the mask to avoid her face in the papers.  There was no time to have any thoughts other than moving our butts from Marks and Spencers to The Metropole Hotel.  We didn't know the camera crews were there and they were cleared from the area after we had made our way through.

http://chanad.weblogs.us/?p=396

The above moved me greatly, it's the scene outside the British Embassy in Bahrain.

There's plenty more i'll add them over the next few days.

 

 

 

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