7/7 London bombings anniversary: What time is the minute's silence and where will it take place? | The Independent 7/7 London bombings anniversary: What time is the minute's silence and where will it take place? 52 people were killed and 700 injured when four terrorists detonated devices in London on 7th July Tuesday 7 July 2015 08:11 BST Click to follow The Independent Online The Hyde Park memorial commemorating 7/7 victims AFP/Getty A minute’s silence will be held today at 11.30am across London’s public transport network in memory of the 52 individuals killed in the 7/7 terror attack ten years ago. When is it? Tubes will stop at 11.30am to allow travellers a moment of silence. Elsewhere in the capital services – such as the ones in St Paul’s Cathedral and Tavistock Square – are expected to hold a minute’s silence. Where is it? On London’s Underground and at services around the capital.

Wimbledon has delayed its play from the usual starting time of 11.30am to 11.45am to allow players, spectators and officials to partake. Meanwhile, London leaders, including Mayor Boris Johnson, will join in a service in St Paul’s. Other services will take place in Tavistock Square – where 110 people were injured – and at the Hyde Park memorial to the 52 killed. Read more 7/7 bombings timeline: How the day unfolded What else is happening to remember the victims? The hashtag #WalkTogether has started trending across Twitter as thousands of commuters photograph themselves leaving their Tube a stop early and walking to work. The initiative, started by British Future, aims to remember the afternoon following the attacks when thousands took to London’s streets as public transport networks shut down. Different services are being held across the capital. In St Paul’s Cathedral families’ of the victims, as well as survivors, are expected to attend a service starting at 11am. The minute’s silence will be marked by petals falling from the cathedrals’ dome and the lighting of four candles to remember the individual sites.

In the afternoon, Prince William will attend a more informal service at the Hyde Park memorial. There will be singing, recitals and a reading. Why do we do it? The origin of a minute’s silence is contested. Andy McSmith’s 2008 article lays out many of the history and common misconceptions – as well as the growing politicisation – of the silence. Commemorative silence became a fixed occasion in Britain in 1919 following the First World War, however, the practise had been around for years. King Edward VII’s death in 1910 was marked by a minute’s silence, while silence was held in 1912 to honour the victims of the Titanic tragedy. Read more Muslim survivor of 7/7 bombings warns against Islamophobia Quakers practised minute’s silence for around 300 years. Absent from political or religious connotations or implications, the method was widely picked up by English-speaking plural societies as an effective method for people to come together without compromising personal beliefs or affiliations.

In pictures: The 10th anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings In pictures: The 10th anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings 1/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Security staff and workers from Hyde Park observe a minutes silence at the 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park 2/26 7/7 bombings anniversary People pause for a minutes silence at Kings Cross Underground station in London, as Britain remembers the July 7 attacks amid a welter of warnings about the enduring and changing threat from terrorism a decade on 3/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Members of staff working within the grounds observe a minutes silence to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the July 7 terrorist attacks at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon 4/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Police officers within the grounds observe a minutes silence to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the July 7 terrorist attacks at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon 5/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Representatives from 7 Company, Coldstream Guards and HQ London District join the national act of remembrance for the 7th July bombings 10th year anniversary beside the Ministry of Defence Main

 Building in central London and led by Rabbi Major Reuben Livingstone 6/26 7/7 bombings anniversary People observe a nationwide minute's silence on the 10 year anniversary of the 7/7 London attacks which killed 52 people, facing in the direction of a plaque and flowers laid at the location of where a suicide bomber blew themselves up during the morning rush hour on a bus in Tavistock Square 7/26 7/7 bombings anniversary George Psaradakis (centre), the driver of the number 30 bus which was blown up in Tavistock Square, looks at floral tributes left close to the scene of the bombings in London 8/26 7/7 bombings anniversary People stop to observe a minute's silence at Aldgate underground station, in memory of the victims of the July 7 bombings 9/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Flowers left by the July 7 memorial plaque at Aldgate Station, London, which names those who were killed in the bombings at the station 10/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Members of various religious groups pray during a service in St Paul's Cathedral, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the London Bombings in London

 11/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Poppy petals fall from the roof during a service in St Paul's Cathedral, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the London Bombings in London PA A police officer looks at flowers left at Kings Cross Underground station in London 13/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Flowers left by the July 7 memorial plaque at Aldgate Station 14/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Boris Johnson and David Cameron place wreathes at the July 7 memorial in Hyde Park, London 15/26 7/7 bombings anniversary David Cameron and Boris Johnson take part in a wreath laying ceremony in London's Hyde Park, in memory of the 52 victims of the 7/7 London attacks 16/26 7/7 bombings anniversary David Cameron and Boris Johnson during a ceremony at the memorial to the victims of the July 7, 2005 London bombings, in Hyde Park 17/26 7/7 bombings anniversary From left: Paul Crowther, Chief Constable, British Transport Police, Adrian Leppard, Commissioner City of London Police, and Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, carry wreath

es at the July 7 memorial in Hyde Park 18/26 7/7 bombings anniversary People look at flowers left in Tavistock Square 19/26 7/7 bombings anniversary 7/7 survivor Gill Hicks (centre) arrives with flowers at Russell Square tube station 20/26 7/7 bombings anniversary People embrace outside Edgware Road tube station, as Britain remembers the July 7 attacks 21/26 7/7 bombings anniversary A lady carrying flowers leaves Russell Square tube station 22/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Faith leaders promote religious unity in central London, as Britain prepares to mark 10th anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings in which 52 people were killed 23/26 7/7 bombings anniversary Gill Hicks, (L) a survivor of the 7/7 London terror attacks, embraces police constable Andrew Maxwell outside Kings Cross Station in London, during an event to launch a walk by faith leaders promoting religious unity ahead of the anniversary of the attacks 24/26 7/7 bombings anniversary A memorial dedicated to the 52 people that were killed during the 7/7 terror attacks

 in London is pictured in London's Hyde Park 25/26 7/7 bombings anniversary The July 7 memorial in Hyde Park 26/26 7/7 bombings anniversary A memorial dedicated to the 52 people that were killed during the 7/7 terror attacks in London is cleaned in London's Hyde Park 7/7 Bombings Victims Remembered On The 10th Anniversary Of The 2005 Terrorist Attacks On London | The Huffington Post 7/7 Bombings Victims Remembered On The 10th Anniversary Of The 2005 Terrorist Attacks On London 04/07/2015 23:25 | Updated 07 July 2015 270 Sarah Ann Harris News Reporter, The Huffington Post UK To mark the ten year anniversary of the London 7/7 terrorist attacks, HuffPost is running Beyond The Bombings , a special series of interviews, blogs, in-depth features and exclusive research reflecting on how Britain has changed since.

Some of the victims were Londoners , while others commuted into the capital for work. Some were only in the city for the day. On the 10th anniversary of the July 7 bombings , we commemorate the 52 people who were killed by terrorists in four separate attacks across London. Each has their own story, often marked by heart-wrenching coincidences and the hopes of future plans that they were not able to live out. How the bombings unfolded on July 7 2005 Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Germaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussain killed themselves when they detonated bombs at Edgware Road, Aldgate and near Russell Square tube stations, and on a bus in Tavistock Square respectively. The explosions were the worst terror attacks on British soil, injuring nearly 800 people. Many who died in the final explosion on the bus in Tavistock Square had already been evacuated from Tube stations, and called their families to tell them they were safe. Today the country will fall silent at 11.30am to remember those who lost their lives in the attacks.

A memorial service will be held at St Paul's Cathedral, attended by David Cameron, Boris Johnson and the Duke of York, as well as survivors and families of the victims. The prime minister and mayor of London were pictured earlier today laying wreaths at the memorial in Hyde Park. Boris Johnson and David Cameron lay wreaths at the Hyde Park 7/7 memorial In an exclusive blog for HuffPost UK , Johnson paid tribute to victim Miriam Hyman and spoke of London's defiance in the face of terror. He said: "We of course have this important consolation, 10 years on - that whatever the pain they caused, whatever the wounds they dealt, those killers failed in their real aim. "They did not change the fundamental things about this city that make it great. In the last 10 years London has if anything become more cosmopolitan, more exciting, more dynamic - more obviously the capital of the world.

It is still a place of hope, a place where people come to make their dreams." 7/7 10th Anniversary 55 Tenth Anniversary Of The London 7/7 Bombings LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 07: British Home Secretary Theresa May attends the service to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the London 7/7 bonbings at St Pauls Cathedral on July 7, 2015 in London, England. Today is the tenth anniversary of the 7/7 bombings, when four suicide bombers struck transport system in central London on Thursday 7 July 2005, killing 52 people and injuring more than 770 in simultaneous attacks. (Photo by Ian Gavan - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Share this slide: Ian Gavan via Getty Images Some of those killed, like young musician Jennifer Nicholson, 24, were on a cusp of promising careers, while others like activist Giles Hart, 55, had contributed to issues like human rights and trade unionism. Neetu Jain, 37, was about to get engaged, while Benedetta Ciaccia,30, was weeks from her wedding day.

One, William Wise, 54, was only caught up in the attacks because he forgot his glasses and went home to retrieve them. Here we remember each of the victims. Michael Brewster, 52 Michael Brewster, known to friends and family as Stan, died in the Edgware Road bombing. Brewster, a senior project engineer for Derbyshire County Council, went missing on his way to a conference in West Kensington. His family spent a week searching for him in London before police confirmed his death. Speaking at the inquest into his death, Brewster's daughter Katy said: "Everybody loved him and respected him." His funeral in the Derbyshire village of Swanwick was attended by more than 1,000 people. Jonathan Downey, 34 A family statement described Jonathan Downey, from Milton Keynes, as "a kind, caring, considerate and supportive son, husband and friend." Downey commuted daily with his wife Veronica to London for his job as a human resources systems development officer for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. He was on board the westbound Circle Line train involved in the Edgware Road attack when he died.

David Foulkes, 22 David Foulkes had been enjoying his new job for the Guardian's media sales team in Manchester, when he died in the Edgware Road bombing. Foulkes, who was in London for the day to meet a colleague, had been planning to move in with his girlfriend and start a family. His father Graham praised him as "a very thoughtful person who cared for the people he called friends". Colin Morley, 52 Colin Morley, from north London, was in the midst of his Be The Change project when he died in the Edgware Road bombing. The initiative encouraged individuals and organisations to make positive changes to act as a force for good. On the project's website, his wife Ros wrote: "Colin was a wonderful husband and father. No words could ever express our great love for him and his love for us, his family." Jennifer Nicholson, 24 Jennifer Nicholson, a talented muscian who commuted to London daily from Reading, is believed to have died instantly when a bomb was detonated near Edgware Road tube station.

Nicholson, who was a gifted singer and was working in music publishing, is the subject of a BBC drama to mark the 10th anniversary of the bombing, entitled 'A Song For Jenny'. The programme, which stars Bafta-winning actress Emily Watson, explore's the reaction of her mother, Julie, to her daughter's death. Nicholson's mother described her daughter as "a kind and honest person with a huge capacity for love and laughter". Laura Webb, 29 Laura Webb, from Islington in north London, was killed in the Edgware Road bombings, although her family and boyfriend searched for a week until they were told she had died. She survived for a short period of time after the detonation thanks to the efforts of other passengers, but eventually succumbed to her injuries. Webb had been travelling in South America with her boyfriend when the 9/11 attacks took place in New York, and cut the trip short because she was so moved by the tragedy. Her mother Hazel said her daughter was "always happy and laughing. She was kind and caring and could always see the best in people and never had a bad word to say of anyone.

Laura loved all aspects of her life." Lee Baisden, 34 Lee Baisden, an accountant for the London Fire Brigade, was one of the seven people who died on the Circle Line train at Aldgate. He was stood directly next to bomber Shehzad Tanweer when the attack took place. Baisden, from Romford in Essex, had recently moved in with his boyfriend Paul Groman, and also spent much of his time caring for his mother, Denise. Mrs Baisden said of her son: "He planned to get married to his partner Paul Groman and he enjoyed life to the full. He will be greatly missed by all and his loss has left a massive hole in all our lives." Benedetta Ciaccia, 30 Benedetta Ciaccia was just two months away from her wedding day when she was killed in the Aldgate bombing on her way to her job at Pearson Publishing. Ciacca, who commuted daily from Norwich, had also recently completed a part-time degree in IT but never got to find out her results.

In a statement read to the 7/7 inquest, her father Roberto, said: "Benedetta Ciaccia was a beautiful, sweet, Italian girl who greatly loved life. "All she worked for was to have a family of her own with many children which she really loved." Richard Ellery, 21 Richard Ellery, from Ipswich, was in a hurry to get to a training course at the Kensington branch of Jessops, after waking up half an hour late. However he never made it there after being caught up in the blast at Aldgate. In a letter to the 7/7 inquest, Ellery's father Trevor said his son had "grown into a confident and very sociable man" and "had been beginning a new and very positive phase in his life". Richard Gray, 41 Richard Gray was killed in the Aldgate bombing as he made his way to his office at chartered accountants FW Smith Riches in Pall Mall. He had been standing just feet away from bomber Shehzad Tanweer. Gray, who commuted daily from Ipswich, was a keen hockey player and helped set up the Ipswich & East Suffolk Hockey Club.

His wife, Louise, described him as "fun-loving, kind and generous, an ordinary family man". The compensation paid out to his family by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority later became the subject of a feud between Gray's wife and son. Carrie Taylor, 24 Carrie Taylor regularly commuted from Billericay in Essex alongside her mother, always kissing her goodbye on the Liverpool Street station concourse. She never completed her journey to work at the Royal Society of Arts that morning, as she was on the train targeted in the Aldgate bombing. An the 7/7 inquest, one doctor who was caught up in the same attack described comforting Taylor for around an hour after the bomb exploded. Her father, John, said of her: "She believed that she was moving in the right direction and it was devastating that she had only just started to reap the benefits of all her hard work when she died so tragically." Fiona Stevenson, 29 Fiona Stevenson was killed in the bombing at Aldgate as she was en route from her new flat in the City to court in Hammersmith.

Stevenson, who was described by her boss as "a hard-working, conscientious and supremely able criminal lawyer", died in the aftermath of the attack. A survivor told the 7/7 inquest that he held her hand as she lay injured and felt her squeeze it as she slipped away. A fund in her memory raised £550 for the Liberty Foundation, which provides care and education for abused and abandoned children in Belize. In a statement read to the inquest, her family said of Stevenson: "She had a wonderful zest for life. As far as she was concerned, life was no dress rehearsal and she was determined to live it to the full." Anthony Fatayi-Williams, 26 Anthony Fatayi-Williams died when Hasib Hussain detonated a bomb on the Number 30 bus, overground in London's Tavistock Square. Fatayi-Williams, an oil executive, made his final phone call at 9.47am on July 7, to warn his bosses in the City that his journey had been delayed. He never made it back to the office.

His mother, Marie, said of him: "He lived for humanity and radiated joy and peace from childhood to adulthood." Jamie Gordon, 30 Jamie Gordon did not normally take the Number 30 bus to work, but had stayed at a friend's house the night before. Instead of travelling from Enfield, where he lived with his girlfriend Yvonne Nash, he was on the bus which exploded on Tavistock Square. Gordon, who had been planning to marry Nash, made a phone call at 9.42am to warn his office, a financial firm on Old Street, that he would be late. Five minutes later, the bus was blown up. His parents told the 7/7 inquest: "Jamie was a funny, tolerant and charming young man who could be irritatingly late, but rarely ever shortchanged any of us." Giles Hart, 55 Giles Hart was on his way to work in Islington from Hornchurch in Essex when he was killed in the Tavistock Square bombing. Hart was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic, for his human rights and trade union activities and work with the Polish Solidarity Campaign.

He was also passionate about film, as well as chairing the HG Wells Society which celebrates the British writer's work. At the inquest into his death, a letter from his wife Maryla said of him: "Giles was an honest, principled person. He believed in justice, liberty and freedom and hated oppression, fundamentalism and totalitarianism." Marie Hartley, 34 Marie Hartley was in London with a colleague to scout out new artists for her greetings card company, when they both boarded the ill-fated Number 30. Hartley, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, sent a text to her family and friends assuring them she was safe after being evacuated from Euston in the aftermath of the Tube bombings. Shortly afterwards she was killed in Tavistock Square. Her colleague survived the blast with serious facial injuries. Speaking five years after Hartley's death, her brother, Ian Targett, told the Accrington Observer: "I was very close to my sister. She would light up a room and was a strong character.

She was well liked and had a lot of friends." Miriam Hyman, 31 Miriam Hyman spoke to her father, John on the phone after the Tube bombings hit. He suggested that she go and wait in a coffee shop for things to calm down before she boarded public transport again, when she spoke to him at around 9.45am. Tragically, Hyman was among those who boarded the Number 30 bus which was then attacked in Tavistock Square. Miriam, a freelance picture editor from Hampstead Garden Suburb, was on her way to Canary Wharf when she died. The Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust was set up in her memory. An eye hospital in India is named after her, providing around 10,000 appointments a year. Her sister Esther said of her: "Miriam attracted friends like a magnet and she kept them too. They remember her laughter and lust for life, her ability to listen attentively and help others to see clearly." Shahara Islam, 20 The youngest victim of the bombings, Shahara Islam, was from Plaistow.

She sat opposite Hasib Hussain when he detonated his bomb on the Number 30 bus in Tavistock Square. Her hour-long journey on the Tube to Islington had been interrupted when she was evacuated following the train bombings, and she bumped into a colleague at Euston station. The colleague suggested they have a coffee and wait for the rush onto the buses to die down, but Islam was keen to get to work, so they got on the bus. A statement from her family said of her: "She was an Eastender, a Londoner and British, but above all a true Muslim and proud to be so." Neetu Jain, 37 Neetu Jain was about to get engaged to her boyfriend Gous Ali when she was killed in the Tavistock Square bombing. Jain called Ali and her sister to assure them she was safe after being evacuated from the Tube on her way to her office in Old Street, where she helped build computer software. But she later died aboard the Number 30 when Hasib Hussain detonated his bomb.

At the inquest into her death, Jain's sister, Reetu, described her as a "a beautiful, loving person" who at the time of her death "was the happiest that she had ever been with her career and personal life". Sam Ly, 28 Sam Ly, a computer technician from Melbourne, Australia, was in Britain on a working holiday. Ly survived for a week after the attack but was hospitalised with serious injuries. His father and nephew flew across the world to be at his bedside until he died. His girlfriend, Mandy Ha, said of him: "If it is possible to be taught how to love wholeheartedly and unselfishly, Sam was my teacher. If there was anyone who inspired me to be more than I was, it was him." Shyanuja Parathasangary, 30 Shyanuja Parathasangary, from Kensal Rise, was killed in the Tavistock Square bombing as she travelled to work at the Royal Mail's Old Street office. Parathasangary, who was known to many as Shy, had just bought a house with her sister, Sindujah, and was enjoying refurbishing it.

Her parents, Ruth and Sangary, said of her: "One of Shyanu's remarkable characteristics is that she never had a harsh word for anyone. Even if she did not agree with someone, she would accept what they said with a smile. She was kind and generous and had an outgoing personality." Anat Rosenberg, 39 Anat Rosenberg, from Finsbury Park, was speaking on the phone to her boyfriend John Falding when a bomb went off on the Number 30 bus in Tavistock Square. Although Falding could hear distant screams before the line went dead, he said was glad to have been speaking to his partner in her final moments. He described Rosenberg as "vivacious, volatile and vulnerable. She was feisty and fiery. She was intelligent with a wonderful sense of humour. But above all, she was the most loyal, loving and caring person imaginable." In a tragic coincidence, Rosenberg, a charity administrator, had been nervous about travelling to Israel later that year to visit her parents because she was worried about suicide bombers. Philip Russell, 28 Philip Russell’s family and friends were given a glimmer of hope when he was classified as missing after the 7/7 bombings.

But after an agonising wait, they discovered four days later that he had died. Russell, a finance manager for JP Morgan, had telephoned his office at around 9.30am to tell his team he was going to be late because his journey to work had been disrupted by the train explosions. He went on to board the ill-fated Number 30 bus blown up in Tavistock Square. Just after the bombings, his friends gathered to remember his life at drinks originally organised by Russell for what would have been his 29th birthday. His father, Graham, said at the inquest into Russell’s death: "His parents' pride and love knows no bounds, and the stories recounted by his friends since his death have echoed their every thought, proving that their son was indeed a good man." William Wise, 54 William Wise set out on July 7 to take the same route to work he had done for the past 10 years, but turned back when he realised he had forgotten his glasses. After returning home to Notting Hill to pick them up, he telephoned a colleague to advise them he would be late.

When Wise realised there had been explosions on the Tube, he chose instead to take the bus - only to be killed on the Number 30 in Tavistock Square. Wise had been back together with his wife Christine for two years, after they had separated following 11 years of marriage. The couple had been planning to get fit together. Gladys Wundowa, 50 Gladys Wundowa died from her injuries shortly after she was caught in the Tavistock Square blast. Ghanaian-born Wundowa, known to many as Ama, was described as an exceptionally hard-working woman, who took a job carrying cement blocks on building sites to support her family when they could not afford to send her to secondary school in her native country. After moving to London to work as a maid, she went on to work as a cleaner at University College London, while also volunteering with a charity and taking a course in housing management. At a ceremony to unveil a plaque in her memory at UCL, Professor Nick Tyler, Head of UCL Civil & Environmental Engineering, explained how he got to know Wundowa because they both arrived so early for work. He described her as a “ray of sunshine”.

Wundowa was buried in her home village in Ghana in a service attended by more than 2,000 mourners. James Adams, 32 James Adams was on his way to his office in The Strand, where he worked as a mortgage broker, when he was caught in the Russell Square bombing. He is thought to have died instantaneously. Adams was a committed Christian and had been a deacon at the Bretton Baptist Church in Peterborough, where he lived, for two years. He had also spent many years supporting a project to help orphans in southern India and a children’s home in the region was dedicated to him following his death. MP David Lammy, who went to school with Adams, paid tribute to him, saying: "When people die it is common to say there was not a bad word to say about them but with James that was absolutely the case. He was one of the nicest people I have ever known. He was charming, very polite and a strong Christian.

His faith was important to him.” At the inquest into his death, a statement from his parents said: "James would have loved to have been married and to have had a family, but after 7/7, this was not to be. James is remembered by family and friends as a devoted and loving person." Samantha Badham, 35, and Lee Harris, 30 Samantha Badham usually drove to work from her home in Tottenham but chose to get the Tube on July 7 so she could have dinner in Soho with some friends that evening. Along with her boyfriend Lee Harris, she boarded the Piccadilly Line train which was then bombed by Germaine Lindsay. Medics said that they found Badham, a web designer, and Harris lying together, both seriously injured with their legs intertwined. Both died, Badham from a heart attack just 10 steps from the exit at King’s Cross.

Paramedic Adam Desmond described speaking to Badham and said: “Just before I moved her I whispered in her ear that I was going to take her out and she smiled at me and squeezed my hand.” Another paramedic, Philip Nation, said that Badham tried to say something to him as she was carried out - but added: “To this day, I can’t say I heard clearly what it was.” Badham’s sister, Louise, said of the couple's relationship: "They did not marry, but they were completely devoted to each other." Lee Harris, an architect, usually cycled to work but due to a work meeting in Heathrow and dinner plans in Soho, he took the Tube with his girlfriend instead. Harris survived for several days after the attack but eventually died from his injuries on 15 July. Harris' mother, Lynne, said of of them:"Lee and Sammy were always together. As far as their future was concerned, it was to be together and to get married and have children." A joint funeral was held for the couple in Badham's home town of Ledbury, in Herefordshire.

Philip Beer, 22 Phil Beer, a hairstylist from Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, died in the Russell Square bombing as he travelled to work at a Knightsbridge salon. He had been journeying with his friend Patrick Barnes when the explosion took place, and his final moments were spent reassuring Barnes that he was going to live. Barnes survived the ordeal. Paramedic Peter Taylor said that when he first arrived on the scene, Beer called out for help but later stopped breathing. He said that leaving Beer was the "hardest decision I have ever had to make". Beer’s family paid tribute to the charismatic hairstylist by asking all mourners to attend his funeral in brightly coloured clothing and carrying his body to the crematorium in a pink coffin. One of his former colleagues said of Beer: "He had a fantastic personality that was full of character and was loved by his colleagues and countless friends alike.” Anna Brandt, 41 Anna Brandt was on her way to work as a cleaner in Hammersmith from her home in Wood Green, when she was caught in the Russell Square bombing.

Brandt’s brother Pawel Iskryzinski spent several days desperately searching for his sister several days until police were able to confirm her death using a DNA sample. Brandt had moved to the UK in 2002, leaving her husband Arek behind in Poland to care for their children. In a statement Iskryzinski, described his sister as a very private person. Ciaran Cassidy, 22 Ciaran Cassidy, from Crouch Hill, had been saving money for months, from his job at a printing company in Chancery Lane, for a trip he was planning to Australia. He was killed instantly when Germaine Lindsay detonated his bomb on a Piccadilly Line train at near Russell Square. Many legal professionals who visited the printing show where Cassidy worked paid tribute to him as a happy, friendly individual. In a statement read at the inquest into his death, his mother Veronica said: "He had no hate in him and no ego.

He loved his family, friends, Arsenal, his weekend drinks and his mother's dinners.” Rachelle Chung For Yuen, 27 Rachelle Chung For Yuen only ended up on the Picadilly Line train blown up by Germaine Lindsay because of disruptions to the Northern Line. She is thought to have died instantly in the blast. The funeral for Chung For Yuen, an accountant from Mill Hill, was held in her home country of Mauritius, with dignitaries including the country’s president, prime minister and opposition leader attending to pay their respects. At the inquest into her death, her husband, Billy, said in a statement: "Rachelle was taught from a young age that family values were extremely important, and she always cherished her family above anything else.” Elizabeth Daplyn, 26 Elizabeth Daplyn, from Highgate, is thought to have died instantly on the Piccadilly Line train blown up near Russell Square. Remembered as an exceptionally talented musician and artist, Daplyn had studied Fine Art at Oxford University. Although determined to forge a career in the art or publishing world, she was working as an administrator in the neurology department of University College hospital.

She had lived in many places around the world including Nigeria and Lahore. Her sister, Eleanor, said in a statement read at the inquest into Daplyn’s death: "When thinking about what she might have done in the future, I honestly have to say I don't know. The scope of her intellect and imagination mean that it could have been everything and anything." Arthur Frederick, 60 Arthur Frederick had returned to his home country of Grenada just weeks before his death, after a visit to help his elderly parents rebuild their home which had been severely damaged in a hurricane. He died aboard the Piccadilly Line train bombed near Russell Square. Frederick, from Seven Sisters, worked as a museum security guard, having previously spent 31 years in the Royal Monserrat Police. He had also been a successful calypso singer, with several hits on the Caribbean island. His songs are still played there on the radio. His son, Astrid Wade, said of him: "I knew my father as a friendly person who got along with everyone. A man who loved his music and participated in the local calypso competition every December [in Montserrat]. I still hear his songs on the radio and it brings back his memory to me.

I do miss him." Karolina Gluck, 29 Carolina Gluck kissed her boyfriend goodbye on the morning of July 7, full of excitement for their journey that night to Paris for a romantic weekend. But as she travelled to work as a receptionist in Bloomsbury, she was caught up in the Russell Square bombing. Gluck, known to her family as Lolcia, took to life in England quickly after moving from her native Poland and was thrilled when it was announced on July 6 that London had won their Olympic bid. In a book of tributes for the bombing victims, Gluck’s mother wrote: "She was very popular and was the life and soul of the party, yet also knew how to strike the perfect balance between working hard and enjoying life. She was immensely trustworthy and took great care of those who were both close to her as well as those she barely knew." Gamze Gunoral, 24 Gamze Gunoral died on her way to language college in Hammersmith, when she was caught in the Russell Square bombing. An only child, Gunoral had come to London to improve her English from Istanbul in Turkey, and was saying with her aunt in Totteridge.

At the inquest into her death, her uncle, Tawfiq Ghayas, said that Gunoral had been determined to make her mother proud. Ojara Ikeagwu, 56 Ojara Ikeagwu was declared dead at the scene of the train bombing near Russell Square, as she took her usual route to work at Hounslow’s council offices. Ikeagwu, a social worker from Luton, spent much of her life helping people. In her job she worked with hundreds of adults with learning difficulties and in her home country of Nigeria she also helped 500 schoolchildren to have a free education and equipped them with books, stationery and uniforms. In a statement, her husband, Okorafor, said: "Ojara was an extrovert and she got on well with everyone she came across. Her death dealt a big blow to her family that has been difficult to recover from. She now has two grandchildren that she will never see. The people she was helping and the people she could have helped are all suffering since her death." Emily Jenkins, 24 Emily Jenkins was on her way to work as a secretary in the City after staying at her boyfriend’s the night before she died.

She was killed in the explosion near Russell Square. Jenkins had spent time travelling the world and dreamt of becoming a midwife. Following her death, her family said in a statement: "She had a love of life and a great ability to bring out the best in people. Emily will be remembered for her enthusiasm and her deep passion for her family and friends." Helen Jones, 28 Helen Jones had just bought her first home with her boyfriend Clive Brooks weeks before she died in the Russell Square bombing. She and her boyfriend had exchanged text messages on the morning of the attacks. She was said to have adored her job at Phoenix Equity Partners, although also felt called to ministry in the church. In a statement, her mother and stepfather said: "It was impossible not to like her. She was big-hearted, warm, humorous and downright likeable. She drew people to herself in a unique way. She loved people and people loved her." Susan Levy, 53 Susan Levy shared part of her commute each day from Newgate Street in Hertfordshire with her youngest son Jamie, before they parted at Finsbury Park. It was there that she boarded the Piccadilly Line train that would ultimately be bombed by Germaine Lindsay.

Levy was said to have loved her job as a legal secretary in the City. Adding to the tragedy for Levy's family, it emerged the day after her death that her estranged sister, Ruth Frankel, had died in hospital after a long illness. Levy’s husband, Harry, said his wife was a "devoted and much-loved wife and mother of two sons". Shelley Mather, 26 Shelley Mather survived for a short time after being in the carriage where Germaine Lindsay detonated his bomb on the Piccadilly Line train near Russell Square. Another woman landed on top of her in the blast and apologised for being unable to move, so the two held hands and comforted each other for 40 minutes, before being evacuated. Mather later died from her injuries. A passionate traveller, the New Zealander had trained as a tour guide before working in administration in London. She had visited her home country a few months before her death and had also planned a trip to Greece later that month. At the inquest, her mother, Kathryn Gilkison, said: "Through her travels, she spread joy and information to many people who had started out as strangers.

Many hundreds of them contacted us after her murder. All of them reiterated the same thing; that she was an amazing person who had added so much joy and friendship to their lives." Michael Matsushita, 37 Mike Matsushita was just three days into his new job in IT recruitment in Holborn when he was killed in the Russell Square bombing. Matsushita, born in Vietnam and raised in New York, had moved to England to be with his girlfriend, Rosie Cowan, who he planned to marry. A keen traveller, he had also become known in his former job as a tour guide in Vietnam for helping orphans. His childhood friend, David Golovner said: "He had a huge passion for life. As a friend, he was my brother. As a person, he was a resident of the world. He had the ability to see the wonder in everything." James Mayes, 28 James Mayes, an analyst at the Healthcare Commission, is thought to have died instantly in the Russell Square bombing. He would not normally have taken the route but had been on his way to a seminar in Holborn when the attack took place. Mayes, from Barnsbury, had two awards established in his memory.

One, sponsored by the Quality Care Commission, is for research into the use of information in improving healthcare, while the other, sponsored jointly by his family and the Open University, is an annual prize for the student who produces the best “Islam in the West” project. In a statement read at the inquest into his death, his family said: "One of the greatest and most tragic ironies of the manner of his death was that he believed passionately in human rights and freedom of expression and belief". Behnaz Mozakka, 47 Behnaz Mozakka travelled the same route as always on July 7 to her job as a biomedical officer at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Mozakka, from Finchley, was said by her daughter, Saba, to have always put family first. She said: "She never thought twice about making sacrifices for her family. My mother was very devoted to us, her family." Mihaela Otto, 46 Mihaela Otto died on her way to work at a dental laboratory in Sloane Square when she was blown out of the train by the explosion near Russell Square.

Although originally from Romania, Otto loved London so much that when she was offered a place to study at America's prestigious UCLA, she turned it down because she was homesick for her adopted city. Her sister, Diana Grodi, said of her: "She was quiet and unassuming, the most kind and generous human being you could ever meet. She didn't have many friends, but those she had were friends for life." Atique Sharifi, 24 Atique Sharifi's parents were killed by the Taliban in his home country of Afghanistan and he fled to the UK seeking a better life. Sadly it was London where he died at the hands of a terrorist in the Russell Square bombing, while travelling back to his flat in Hounslow. Sharifi had worked hard to learn English when he arrived in the UK, studying English at West Thames College, where he was described as a "delight to have in the group" by his tutor. He also worked at a takeaway to earn money. His sister, Farishta, said in a statement to the 7/7 inquest: "He was not just a brother, he was also my friend and I still miss his telephone calls.

He was also protective of me, not just sending money home, but also making sure that he shouldered life's difficult responsibilities because he did not want me to worry about any concerns that he had or problems that he faced." Ihab Slimane, 24 Ihab Slimane had only been in London for three weeks when he was killed in the attack on the Piccadilly Line near Russell Square. Slimane, from Lyon in France, had been determined to improve his English, so had found himself a job in a restaurant in the West End and a flat in Finsbury Park. Sebastien Marteaux, his Slimane’s manager, said: "He was a nice, hard-working boy who would do anything you asked of him. He was always telling jokes and always had a smile on his face." Christian Small, 28 Christian Small was killed in the Russell Square bombing while on his way from Walthamstow to his job in advertising sales in Holborn. Small spent much of his time helping people, whether through education about Africa or campaigning for fair trade or debt relief. He had just started to approach publishers about a book he wrote following a life-changing trip to west Africa.

His mother, Sheila Henry, said of him: "He worked all his life to show his integrity. He was soft, he was kind, a really lovely, warm, great person. He was just such a fine man." Monika Suchocka, 23 Monika Suchocka was killed aboard the Piccadilly Line train bombed by Germaine Lindsay near Russell Square, as she travelled to work from Archway to an accountancy firm in West Kensington. Suchocka, originally from Poland, had thrown herself into her new life in London, expanding her social circle by joining a choir. A book of tributes to her described Suchocka as "unassuming, gentle and sensitive, always ready to offer help to those in need" Mala Trivedi, 51 Mala Trivedi was travelling to work at Great Ormond Street Hospital from her home in Wembley, when she was killed in the Tube explosion near Russell Square. Trivedi, a pictures, archiving and communications system manager, was known for her dedication and cheerful disposition in the workplace.

Dr Cathy Owens, a colleague, said of her: "Her dedication to her job and her cheery polite nature made her a very popular member of the close-knit team which she helped to lead." Adrian Johnson, 37 Adrian Johnson, a product technical manager for Burberry, died on the Piccadilly Line train blown up near Russell Square. While working in London he usually stayed at a hotel, but broke his usual routine to see his family at home in Nottingham. Johnson had supported his wife, Catherine, through cancer and the pair had saved a bottle of champagne for her five-year anniversary of getting the all-clear from her illness in 2006. She said: "He was absolutely amazing during this terrible time, and my love and respect for him grew to new heights.” A memorial trust in Johnson’s name raised nearly £40,000 for children affected by the London bombings, as well as attacks on the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh just weeks later. Anne Moffat, 48 Anne Moffat is believed to have been standing close to Shehzad Tanweer when he detonated his bomb at Aldgate. She is thought to have died immediately.

Moffat, from Old Harlow in Essex, worked at Girlguiding UK, having first joined the organisation aged just 18. Her brother, Christopher, said of her: "She was a strong-minded and determined person, but had a close network of friends. Everyone who ever knew Anne respected her qualities of honesty and integrity." ON THE BLOG: 7/7 London bombings: What happened on 7 July 2005? - CBBC Newsround 7/7 London bombings: What happened on 7 July 2005? 6 July 2015 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The 7 July Memorial to honour the victims of the London bombings was unveiled in the capital's Hyde Park in 2009 consisting of 52 single columns representing the lives lost In the summer of 2005, London was rocked by the worst single terrorist attack on British soil. Ten years on, The Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron will lead services this week to remember all those caught up in those tragic events. More than 50 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured.

Newsround looks back at what happened on 7 July 2005 - a day that has become known as 7/7. What happened on 7 July? Image copyright AFP/getty images Image caption Police and fire fighters worked outside London's Aldgate Station after an explosion occurred on a London underground train on 7 July 2005 On 7 July 2005, four men with rucksacks full of explosives attacked central London. The target was London's transport system, at the end of the morning rush hour. Four bombs went off there - three on the London underground and one on a bus. The underground station bombs went off at about 8.50am on trains near Liverpool Street and Edgware Road stations, and on another tube train travelling between King's Cross and Russell Square. A fourth bomb went off on a bus in Tavistock Square, London, about an hour later. The attacks became known as the 7/7 bombings.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A plaque with the names of the victims of the 7/7 London bombings has been created in the capital's Hyde Park to remember those who died in the attacks Sadly, 52 people died in the attacks and more than 770 people were injured. Here are some tips about what to do if you are feeling sad about what you've seen, heard or read. What happened on 21 July? Image caption Thousands of flowers and messages were left for the victims of the attack across London. Here's just a few of the floral tributes placed outside King's Cross Station a week after the bombings Four more attempted bombings took place in London exactly two weeks after the 7/7 bombings, on 21 July 2005. And like the first attacks, there were bombs on three underground trains and one on a bus. Luckily, none of these bombs actually went off. Police found the failed bombs at Oval, Warren Street and Westbourne Grove underground stations, and on a bus at Hackney. Two days later, a fifth unexploded bomb was found in a bush at Little Wormwood Scrubs in London. Who was responsible for the attacks?

Image copyright AFP/getty images Image caption Ambulances and police vans stand in front of London's Kings Cross Station after the terrorist bomb exploded near there Four men carried out the four separate bomb attacks on 7 July. They were all British and had lived what appeared to be quite normal lives. But after the attacks they were all found to have links to Islamic extremism. The bombers were Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, from Leeds, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, from Leeds, Germaine Lindsay, 19, from West Yorkshire, and Hasib Mir Hussain, 18, from outside Leeds. They all died in the bomb attacks. Image copyright Various Image caption 52 people, not including the four terrorists, lost their lives in the 7/7 London bombings In 2007, Muktar Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, Hussain Osman and Ramzi Mohammed were all jailed for life for their part in the failed attacks on 21st July. Manfo Asiedu, who at the last minute had removed the battery from his bomb before ditching it in a bin in a West London park, was jailed for 33 years. How safe is the UK now?

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Police in London are given special training to stop another attack from happening Police, the government and the security services have taken measures to try to stop events like 7/7 happening again. These include: Expanding the power of the security service, MI5 Looking more closely at people in the UK who the police suspect might be involved in terrorism plots Working more closely with other countries to learn about the people they suspect of terrorism Telling the public more about possible threats. Sadly even the police and the security services admit that they cannot guarantee stopping every single threat to the British public. But it is important to remember that this type of attack is very, very rare in this country. 7/7 Drills - YouTube 7/7 Drills Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Jun 30, 2006 On the morning of 7/7 2005 in London, drills where being run that envisioned attacks against the London underground trains. These drills just happened to take place at the same time and place as the real attacks. coincidence? Remember that on the morning of 9/11 2001 it was the same thing, drills of hijacked jets crashing into the WTC and Pentagon where taking place at the same time as the real attacks. Category 7/7 London bombings: Family takes anti-extremism battle to classrooms with Miriam's Vision [Video] 7/7 London bombings: Family takes anti-extremism battle to classrooms with Miriam's Vision [Video] Close 7/7 anniversary: 10 years on, one victim’s family preaches against extremism in the classroom IBTimes UK It is almost 10 years to the day since the 7/7 London bombings, a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks on the capital's transport network in which 52 civilians lost their lives.

7/7 London bombings Took place on 7 July 2005 Four Islamist suicide bombers detonated four bombs on London's transport network 52 civilians killed and over 700 injured in the attacks Worst terrorist incident since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing UK's first ever suicide attack A decade later, one family has moved on from the grief of losing a loved one and is taking the fight against extremism to Britain's schools. Miriam Hyman, 31, died after the number 30 double decker bus she was travelling on was blown-up at Tavistock Square in central London. Following Miriam's death, her family are attempting to use their daughter's story to educate children about the attacks and dissuade them from extremism. Miriam's mother, Mavis Hyman, says the project has now become her life's work. "Our reaction to 7/7 was a determination to do whatever we could in our very limited power to prevent this happening to other people. This is so avoidable. This distress is so intense and so avoidable that it became our life's work," she says.

Miriam Hyman was one of 51 civilians killed in the 7 July London bombingsReuters Miriam's sister Esther helps runs the project. She states her surprise at the lack of awareness about the bombings, the worst terrorist incident in the country since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, compared with other terrorist attacks such as 9/11. "Although many of them are aware of 9/11, actually the events of 7/7 do seem to have slipped out of the public consciousness. So we don't want to brow beat; we're not feeling sorry for ourselves but it's worth remembering an event like 7/7 and learning lessons from it, so that it didn't happen in in vain," she says. What is Miriam's Vision? Miriam's Vision is a collection of lesson plans designed to educate British secondary school children about the events of the London bombings and discourage extremism. The course comes at a time when increasing numbers of British citizens are becoming radicalised and joining islamist groups such as Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Syria, including three British schoolgirls from east London who travelled to Syria to join IS fighters in March.

13 people, including Miriam Hyman, were killed when Hasib Hussain detonated a bomb on the top deck of a number 30 busReuters Jane Beaumont is the headteacher at Copthall School in north London where Miriam studied. She says these classes could prove a vital resource in educating students of the dangers of extremism. "It's not just for schools, but schools have an important role to play in terms of how we are educating our young people, but also in how we are supporting parents and our relationship and partnership with parents to ensure that their children are safe both within school and outside of school," she says. One of those attending the classes, 14 year-old Rabia Dilawar, said the courses had also helped in removing some of the stigma around Muslims among her fellow students. Maybe our work is a drop in the ocean, but collectively we can make a difference. The aim of a terrorist is to terrorise and I refuse to lay down and be beaten Esther Hyman She says: ''There are a lot of stereotypes about Muslims being terrorists and Islamophobia and seeing as I'm Muslim, I get quite offended when people say that.

"These lessons have helped those other children in my class understand that Muslims are not terrorists, that it is just a stereotype that people have been making up. "Just because one person, the bomber, has decided to do something like this, it doesn't mean that everyone else who follows the same belief as that bomber, has the same intentions as him as well." Esther Hyman hopes the continued work of these courses will help to prevent radicalisation and racial tension in the UK, so an event like that of 7 July 2005 never happens again. '"It saddens me to hear about the steady stream of young people that are going down the path of radicalisation. Maybe our work is a drop in the ocean, but collectively we can make a difference. The aim of a terrorist is to terrorise and I refuse to lay down and be beaten," she says. Miriam's Vision has been trialled in London secondary schools and will be launched nationally in July 2015.

Woolwich attack: terrorist proclaimed 'an eye for an eye' after attack - Telegraph Terrorism in the UK Woolwich attack: terrorist proclaimed 'an eye for an eye' after attack A British soldier has been butchered on a busy London street by two Islamist terrorists, one of whom proclaimed afterwards: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” By Gordon Rayner and Steven Swinford 10:00PM BST 22 May 2013 Mum talked down Woolwich terrorists In the first terrorist murder on the British mainland since the 7/7 suicide bombings of 2005, the men attempted to behead the soldier, hacking at him like a “piece of meat” in front of dozens of witnesses, before both were shot by police who took around 20 minutes to arrive. After the killing, one of the men, believed to be a British-born Muslim convert, spoke calmly into a witness’s video phone.

One of the attackers speaks into a witnes's camera phone following the attack (ITV) Speaking with a London accent, holding a knife and a meat cleaver and with his hands dripping with blood, he said: “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone. Your people will never be safe. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying by British soldiers every day. Related Articles Aerial view of Woolwich attack crime scene 22 May 2013 “We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I apologise that women had to witness this today but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don’t care about you. Do you think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns? Do you think your politicians are going to die? “No, it’s going to be the average guy like you, and your children. So get rid of them.

Tell them to bring our troops back so we, so you can all live in peace.” Witnesses said that the men used a car to run over the soldier just yards from the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, south-east London, before setting about him with knives and a meat cleaver as if they were “trying to remove organs”. One unconfirmed report suggested that he had been beheaded. Passers-by said they thought at first that the attackers were trying to help the man, who was wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt, and only realised they were killing him when they got closer. As they attacked the soldier, one of the men shouted “Allahu akbar”, or God is Great, according to the BBC, while another witness said they appeared to pray next to the body as if the solder was a “sacrifice”. Their victim, thought to be aged around 20, had reportedly been on duty at an Army recruitment office in central London and was on his way back to the barracks when he was murdered at 2.20pm. It emerged that passers-by went to the soldier’s aid. One of the killers ordered that only women could tend to the body, not men.

There were also questions over why it took around 20 minutes for armed police to arrive on the scene, during which time the killers calmly walked up and down the road, carrying their bloodied knives and a pistol, while members of the public confronted them. When police did arrive, both gunmen tried to rush at the police and were shot, reportedly by a female officer. On Wednesday night they were under armed guard in separate hospitals. Their British accents suggested that they were “home-grown” terrorists and security sources said they did not believe anyone else was involved in the incident. David Cameron described the attack, which had chilling echoes of a plot to behead a soldier foiled in Birmingham in 2007, as “absolutely sickening”, but said that Britain will “never buckle” in the face of terrorism. This morning he will chair a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency briefing committee to be updated on developments. Speaking in Paris, where he had been meeting François Hollande, the French president, he said: “We have suffered these attacks before. We have always beat them back. We have done that through a combination of vigilance, of security, of security information, good policing.

“But above all, the way we have beaten them back is showing an absolutely indomitable British spirit that we will not be cowed, we will never buckle under these attacks. The terrorists will never win because they can never beat the values we hold dear, the belief in freedom, in democracy, in free speech, in our British values, Western values. They are never going to defeat those. That is how we will stand up to these people, whoever they are, however many there are of them, and that is how we will win.” He added that “every aspect” of security would be reviewed. After a Cobra meeting last night, chaired by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, security was tightened at all London barracks. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London who attended the meeting, said: “I know that Londoners have been through terrorism before and this city has huge resilience. “What we also have is the best, the most professional security services and the best police in the world to protect us and they are now going to get to the bottom of exactly what’s happened.” The Queen announced that she would go ahead with a planned visit to the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Woolwich Barracks next week.

The murder appeared to have been planned to ensure maximum publicity, with the killers urging witnesses to take their picture “as if they wanted to be on TV”. One witness, identified only as James, said he and his partner watched in horror as they realised what they were seeing. He shouted at the men to stop, only for one of them to pull out a gun and threaten to shoot him. After driving his car further up the road, he stopped and called the police, telling them to bring armed units. He said: “These two guys are chopping this guy to pieces, literally hacking at something like it’s a bit of meat. These two guys were crazed, they were just animals. They then dragged the poor guy from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road. “They were standing there with the knives in their hand, waving the gun about. There were police at the end of the road but there were no police in the vicinity of the attackers. I think they were proud of what they were doing.” Footage of the incident obtained by ITV News showed one woman crouched over the body of the dead soldier in an attempt to shield it from further attack. Three other women stood between the body and the killers.

Joe Tallant, a van loader who lives near the scene, said: “My friend and her mum were walking up the hill and the mum came straight to the victim. “She asked the black guys, 'Can I help him?’ And one of them said he was already dead but she could have a go. Then one of them said, 'No man is coming near this body, only women.’ “She was so brave, she didn’t care what happened to her; she knelt down by his side and comforted him. She held his hand and put her other hand on his chest.” Mulgrave Primary School, just yards from the scene of the killing, went into “lockdown”. However, parents said some of the children had witnessed the attack. The Muslim Council of Britain condemned the killing as a “truly barbaric” act with “no basis in Islam”. A spokesman said: “We call on all our communities, Muslim and non-Muslim, to come together in solidarity to ensure the forces of hatred do not prevail.” The London bombings: Why did it happen here? - World Socialist Web Site World Socialist Web Site Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) The London bombings: Why did it happen here?

By Chris Marsden 15 July 2005 The response of the Labour government to the July 7 bombings in London has been a mixture of hand-wringing and hypocrisy. We are told repeatedly that four, and possibly more, young British men from immigrant families were prepared to blow themselves up simply due to an irrational hatred of Western civilisation inculcated by Islamic fundamentalism. No reason is offered for why these and hundreds more Asian youth are attracted to religious extremism and are prepared to kill and be killed. To even raise the question of the role played by Britain’s participation in the Iraq war in fomenting anger amongst Muslims is to invite denunciations of being an apologist for the terrorist atrocities. But to explain is not to condone. The emergence of Islamic fundamentalism and terror bombings is a manifestation of a deep-rooted disease in society and the body politic. Bitter denunciations will do nothing to change this reality. It must be understood. It is obvious that the London bombings were a response to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the ongoing occupation of those countries.

It did not require a great deal of social insight or immense powers of political foresight to anticipate that acts of terrorism would be one of the responses to Britain’s participation in a predatory and illegal war. The toxic combination of Blair’s alliance with the White House-Pentagon militarists and his foully hypocritical invocations of democracy were bound to have lethal consequences within this country. Only those such as government spokesmen and official apologists for the war would deny this. But to point out the anger generated by the war amongst British Muslims is only the beginning of an explanation. There is no direct and inevitable connection between even the most intense outrage against the war and the decision to commit a terrorist act directed against the civilian population. The emergence of suicide bombers within Britain is an indication of a pathological state of social relations within this country. We are not dealing here with psychotic killers, where a family tragedy or some other individual life experience can be shown to play a part in the development of a personality disorder. The three alleged bombers originally identified were students and a family man, who acted out of religious conviction. Shehzad Tanweer, 22, was born in Bradford but lived most of his life with his parents in the Beeston area of Leeds.

He was a good student and a sports science graduate. His Pakistani father owns a chip shop and is a respected member of the local community. Hasib Hussain, 18, a college friend of Tanweer, also came from Beeston. His father works in a local factory. Mohammed Sadique Khan, 30, from Beeston, was married with a young daughter. He worked in a caring profession, as a primary school mentor for children with learning difficulties. His father worked in a foundry. His estranged wife is a neighbourhood environmental officer. Last year Khan’s mother-in-law, Farida Patel, was a guest at a Buckingham Palace garden party, where she received an award for her work as a teacher specialising in bilingual studies. The fourth alleged bomber, a Jamaican-born resident of Britain in his thirties, Lindsey Germaine, was named only yesterday. These young men are alleged to have planned and carried out a truly horrific deed. Consider what it would take to board a tube train or a bus and look at the faces of those around you—men, women and children who bear absolutely no responsibility for the actions of the Blair government.

And then to detonate ten pounds of high explosives, knowing the bomb will kill all those around you. An act of this character expresses an extraordinary level of social alienation. It is all too easy to attribute this to “brainwashing” or the “perverted and poisonous” doctrines of Islamic extremism, as Prime Minister Tony Blair did in Parliament on July 13. Such declarations evade the real questions. Why were four educated young men attracted to the millenarian visions of a heavenly paradise for the martyr peddled by the fundamentalists? How have such reactionary doctrines taken hold and won support? The ability of groups sympathetic to Al Qaeda to win influence is connected to significant social, economic and political changes within British society itself. Even as we employ the term “British society,” we are obliged to recall that it was the former Tory leader Margaret Thatcher, in support of her dog-eat-dog political and economic philosophy, who insisted, “There is no such thing as society.” She declared, “I think we’ve been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it’s the government’s job to cope with it.

‘I have a problem, I’ll get a grant.’ ‘I’m homeless, the government must house me.’ They’re casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families.” The coming to power of Thatcher’s government in 1979 marked the definitive break by Britain’s ruling elite with the post-war policy of securing social consensus by maintaining a welfare state. Instead, Thatcher refashioned Britain as a cheap labour platform for the major transnational corporations by mobilising the full might of the state against the working class. Thatcher’s contempt for the fate of ordinary working people and the cultivation of extraordinary wealth for a select few began a quarter century ago. It has resulted in the disintegration of all the complex social arrangements and institutions that once gave people a connection to a broader community. The elevation and glorification of the powerful individual—the billionaire businessman, the fabulously rich “celebrity”—as the epitome of success has been accompanied by the impoverishment of millions in Britain and all over the world.

The four alleged bombers may not all be from the most impoverished layers, but in their social being they reflect conditions affecting broad sections of the working population that have developed in Britain over the past decade-and-a-half. They live in a part of the country, Yorkshire, that has been devastated by the mass closure of mines, textile mills and factories. A small number may have prospered, but most new jobs that have been created offer only low-wage employment in the service sector. Beeston is an example of the type of urban deprivation that has been created. A July 2004 report by Leeds City Council states that Beeston has “failed to benefit from the growth in the economy of the city, leaving wide gaps between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.” Immigrant communities make up only 22 percent of the population. Most residents are poor whites struggling to make a living. Unemployment stands at nearly eight percent, and only a third of the total population are in full-time employment. Nearly one in six residents suffers from long-term illness. Two-thirds of residents rent rather than own their homes.

This social polarisation has been accompanied by the growth of all manner of social and intellectual backwardness, of which the growing influence of religion and its most apocalyptic variants, in particular, is one manifestation. To explain this, one must identify the other key factor leading to the extreme alienation from society of many young people—the disintegration of the labour movement and its disappearance as a significant force in British society. It is not necessary to repeat here the criticisms made by the Marxist movement of the reformist programme advanced by the Labour Party and the trade unions. Despite their extreme and ultimately fatal limitations, these mass organisations reflected, even if inadequately, the sense of class solidarity and the socialist aspirations that were deeply felt by millions of workers, and even significant sections of the middle class. There existed a genuine confidence that capitalist oppression was on the way out, and Britain and the world would be made anew. It was not a question of if capitalism would be replaced, but how and when. The youth responded to this optimism, and flooded into socialist organizations well to the left of the Labour Party.

Within such an intellectual and social climate, disaffected youth seeking a better Britain and a better world turned to a study of Marx and embraced the most advanced philosophy ever devised—one characterised by optimism, human solidarity and the highest idealism. This was still true as late as the mid-1980s. It took an unbroken series of betrayals by the Labour Party and the trade union bureaucracy, beginning with the miners’ strike of 1984-85, followed by a massive propaganda campaign proclaiming the “death of socialism” after the collapse of the Stalinist regimes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, to change this. Today, the Labour Party is a bastion of political reaction. Its prime minister is a mouthpiece of the Murdoch media empire. In the name of “New Labour,” Blair imposes the economic philosophy pioneered by Thatcher in Britain and recommends it as a model for Europe and the world. He portrays war and colonial conquest as the West’s great civilising mission to bring “democracy” to the peoples of the Middle East and Africa. As for the trade unions, these spineless and impotent organizations are no longer taken seriously. The younger generation is offered no means of influencing and changing society.

Every avenue for doing so has been closed off. In February 2003, more than one million people marched in London to oppose the plans of the US and Britain to invade Iraq. The response of Blair to this unprecedented display of opposition was to declare that the essence of democratic governance was the willingness of political leaders to defy the popular will. Contemporary Britain is a deeply troubled and dislocated society. In the course of 25 years of political reaction, the festering and neglected social contradictions of the country have assumed a malignant character. The cure can be found only in politics, but of a very different character than that which prevails today. Only through a resurgence of genuine socialism can a way forward be found out of the present impasse. The great principles of internationalism, social equality and genuine popular democracy will act as a powerful antidote to religious obscurantism, and provide the basis for uniting all workers and youth in the struggle for a better future.

Question: In what year did the 7/7 attacks in London take place?
Answer: 2005