London Bombings

Early this morning 6 bombs went off in the subway and bus system in London. So far there have been around 40 fatalities reported and over a thousand injured. An Islamic website quickly started carrying a statement from the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe, claiming credit for the blast. The BBC News has a copy of the statement up on their website.

One line in that statement really caught my attention:

"Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters."

Could these sick, twisted, demented fools be more wrong? Here are a few descriptions of the "terror and panic" in London from the BBC reporters blog:

The roads are almost empty with no cars, but the pavements are jammed. People have realised that they are not going to get home unless they walk.

the only places doing any business at all are the East End pubs which are all full of people quietly watching the live news coverage of the events.

I spoke to a nurse earlier from the University College hospital who said everyone has been pulling together and that there was a very calm atmosphere as staff got on with their work.

I'm a Londoner born and bred but I've never seen anything like this - it was fantastic to see everyone pulling together.

It's a sad fact of life that faith leaders in the East End have been preparing for the fallout of terrorism in London. The Bishop of Stepney, Stephen Oliver, and Dr Mohammed Abdul Bari, the chairman of the East London Mosque, have just spoken together outside the Royal London Hospital saying the East End and the whole of London must remain united in the face of terror.

Trying to get to work this morning I found myself at a pub in Kings Cross where the landlady was giving out free cups of tea and people were buying drinks; doing anything they could.

Everyone was trying to help each other out.

Our hearts and our prayers go out to the people of London today. They are handling this horrible situation with the calm determination and resolve that we all have come to expect from the British.

We all know that Tony Blair is no Winston Churchill but on this day, at this time, he is the right man to deal with this attack.

Prime Minister Tony Blair had this to say:

"It is a very sad day for the British people but we will hold true to the British way of life."

"It is important that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.

"Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world."