A Lament for London

I’ve alluded to this in a previous post but the events in London, home for 15 years of my life, have left me with a heavy heart. Indeed my mood has affected quite profoundly my appetite for blogging which has been distinctly impaired. I’ve tried to distill my thoughts with no great success but I’m going to set down a (kind of) stream of consciousness in the hope that it may be cathartic. So today I’m going to be serious and am foregoing the usual satire, snark and pseudo-witty comments. So bear with me or leave now and find a more lighthearted site such as this…

As I’ve said before, I’ve been around urban terrorism for half my life (I note that there is some irony in the fact that the IRA today announced the total renunciation of violence) which has included some near misses and sadly the loss of my cousin in 9/11. Anyway here are my thoughts:

1. To the deluded murdering perpetrators of violence who leave things like this (see below) on Tube trains and buses I say shame on you that you commit these acts in the name of religion. You are misinterpreting your Holy Book and you deserve anything that comes back in your direction. And believe me it will. In the past London has been bombed on many occasions by better classes of bastards than you and has always stood firm.

X-ray of bomb found in a car at Luton
Photo from ABC News

2. I hope that the Spirit of the Blitz that emerged in the days following 7/7 can be maintained. This will do more than anything else to blunt terrorism.

3. I’ve seen more column inches of total rubbish that I could have believed possible written about the Police’s so called “shoot to kill” policy. Now let’s get this straight once and for all. There is no such thing as “shooting to mildly inconvenience” or anything else. It doesn’t matter whether the gun is aimed at your head or heart; the intent is to destroy. Belief that there can be any other intended outcome can be blamed squarely on Hollywood.


The business end of a Glock 9mm. Stop if one is pointed at you.
Photo from Black Rat

4. My heart goes out to the family and friends of Jean Charles de Menezes who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and did nothing more than react to an adrenal surge -damn, I’d bloody well run in Stockwell if I was pursued by someone in civilian clothes waving a gun.

5. I feel very sad for the unfortunate Police trigger man who was put in an impossibly difficult situation. This was a seriously bad mistake and a heavy price will paid by all concerned. I take the view that all parties involved are terrorist victims.

6. I abhor the cheap commercialism of the right wing tabloid press that seeks to profit from lowest common denominator demagoguery as below. Shame on you!


I will never buy this heinous rag!

7. I applaud this kind of humour which is one of the best weapons against adversity.

Photo from Going Underground.

8. Finally,I hope fervently that we do not witness a backlash of racist hate crime.

OK, now I've got that off my chest it's back to work..