07 July 2007

Two years on

Two years ago today four suicide bombers took the lives of 52 people in London. The second anniversary of this evil act was marked with a low key ceremony at the memorial garden by Kings Cross station. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mayor Ken Livingstone and Olympics and London Minister Tessa Jowell.


I have no great love for Livingstone but his words on that day two years ago sum up my feelings : This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at Presidents or Prime Ministers. It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old. It was an indiscriminate attempt to slaughter, irrespective of any considerations for age, for class, for religion, or whatever.... That isn’t an ideology, it isn’t even a perverted faith - it is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder and we know what the objective is. They seek to divide Londoners. They seek to turn Londoners against each other Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack.”


Today by contrast London will be alive: This afternoon there is the Live Earth Concert at Wembley Stadium, there is still British interest (albeit in the mixed doubles) on the last Saturday of Wimbledon and, perhaps of greatest interest to me, the prologue of the Tour de France through the heart of the city . Security will be particularly tight, especially after last week’s failed car bombings.

It is also an utter disgrace that about a quarter of victims has not yet been fully resolved after two years: For example, Thelma Stober who lost a leg in the Aldgate bomb has received £33,000 (the maximum value for the loss of a limb below the knee)- but is still trying to get compensation for the rest of her injuries. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority said the outstanding claims were the most serious ones, involving complicated calculations of loss of earnings and estimates for future care. If it takes that long then it would seem that a root and branch overhaul of the compensation system is urgently needed.


Finally for those who believe that the bombings represented some form of justice I hope you choke on your perverted ideologies. You are vermin. You know who you are.

7 comments:

jams o donnell said...

Agreed ewbl. Whatever our nations do it does not justify such actions.

Agnes said...

No comment. Next time be more explicit. However, the same people who cheer this kind of freedom fight (or how to put it) does not oppose sweatshops too much (among other things). Or the walmart. Or male chauvinism. The list is open.

Beak, they lost the proletariat (at least in the West), so they desperately need a new class of oppressed. A long story.

beakerkin said...

Redwine

Walmart may be the best hope of Africa and countries like Haiti. The problem of Africa is political instability. It would be a great leap forward if the United States and some others invested in Africa for those sweat shop jobs.

Those jobs could be the start of building a tax base. It is certainly better than the situation they have now.

The problem is political instability prevents investors from creating jobs. I would love to see Haiti replace some of those jobs that go to China. The Haitian people deserve a better life, but the instability prevents progress.

Redwine if you look at Socialist Bernie Sanders comments on why he voted against the immigration bill you are more correct than you could ever know.

jams o donnell said...

Indeed, as do supporters of islamic terrorism, the rump that still supports the past actions of Irish terrorists and so on.

Red of course they don't. For all too many (but not all to be fair) It simply suffices to oppose a nebulous american oppression by any and all means - just so long as they are not doing the acts.

Africa needs peace and staibility. It doesn't come from thje barrel of a gun or from kleptocratic placemen.

Steve Bates said...

I do know better than to stand in the line between Beakerkin and Redwine, but I have done quite a bit of reading about Wal-Mart...

In many small communities in the U.S., the increased demand on social services (e.g., emergency room care for non-emergency medical problems) due to Wal-Mart's lack of employee benefits and inadequate salaries more than overwhelms any additional taxes taken in by the communities due to the presence of the Wal-Mart. It's not a question of whether one supports socialism; it's a question of whether Wal-Mart is allowed to privatize its profits while socializing its losses. Many small communities now fight the introduction of new Wal-Mart stores into their towns for one simple reason: it's bad for the local economy.

jams o donnell said...

Walmart owns a chain here called Asda. They did try to lock out unions but without a lot of sucess I think. I gather that Walmart sucks jobs out of local economies too. Out of town wupermarkets had that effect here too

jams o donnell said...

with or without the soap itself jen???