The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, has paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the 7/7 London bombings ahead of a series of events in the capital to mark the tenth anniversary of the attack.
Relatives of victims of the atrocity as well as survivors and members of the emergency services have been invited to a national service of remembrance at St Paul’s Cathedral organised by the City Hall.
The service will be attended by HRH the Duke of York, Prime Minister David Cameron and the Mayor, as well as senior leaders involved on the day itself including former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Mayor Ken Livingstone.
The service will include a minute of silence at 1130am that will be observed across the capital’s transport network.
Earlier in the day the Mayor, the Prime Minister and other senior political figures, the Commissioners for transport and policing in the capital, as well as senior representatives of the emergency services will lay wreaths at the 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park.
A further service for survivors and relatives of the victims will be held at the memorial site during the afternoon, which will include music, a series of readings and the laying of flowers.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Our priority today is to allow the families and friends of the 52 innocent victims of 7/7 to pay tribute to the memory of their loved ones. And for the survivors and the many hundreds of members of our emergency services who were affected by these atrocities to know that they have the support of every Londoner. On the tenth anniversary of the attacks we honour the victims, we remember the sufferings of their families and we pay tribute to the actions of our emergency services on that appalling day.”
Fifty-two innocent people lost their lives, and hundreds more were injured in co-ordinated terrorist attacks on the London transport network on July 7th 2005.
Plans to commemorate the tenth anniversary have been led by the desire to meet the wishes and expectations of the families and survivors, as well as the hundreds of emergency responders who were involved that day.
In 2014 the Mayor asked Dame Tessa Jowell, who was heavily involved in family liaison at the time, and Gerald Oppenheim, Chair of the Trustees of the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund, to work closely with City Hall on preparations for the ten year anniversary. Both played a key role in engaging with family members of the 7/7 victims.
Today the Mayor paid tribute to both Dame Tessa and Gerald Oppenheim for their efforts over the past twelve months. City Hall is also hosting an exhibition of paintings and pastels by Miriam Hyman, one of the fifty-two people killed in the bombings. The exhibition will run until 10 July and is free to attend.