London United: Remembering 7/7

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

I wasn’t living in London at the time of the 7/7 attacks, but I remember the waves of panic that spread throughout the country as the enormity of that day became clear. I remember the mad panic to call, text or email friends and family to make sure that they were safe. I remember the country grinding to a halt in harmony with the London transport system. As TFL shut the gates at tube stations across the city and commuters were forced to face long journeys home on foot, the country was huddled aound televisions as we waited to see what happened next.

I’ll never forget the defiant text message I received from a friend at lunchtime that day that simply said “I won’t let them frighten me out of my own city”. London is my city now, and I hope that if such terrible events were to happen again that I would be as brave and defiant as the people of London were that day.

In many ways in was the bravery of the city and its people, so clearly on show that day, that drew me towards London. I’d always been told that London was an unfriendly place where people didn’t look out for each other. After 7/7, seeing the way that commuters cared for the injured, and the way the city pulled together in the weeks and months afterwards, I knew the true character of London.

A week after the attacks a rally was held in Trafalgar Square under the banner “London United”, and Ken Livingstone gave this moving speech: