Thursday, September 06, 2007

Still waiting for the Government response on 7/7 inquiry

The Government lawyers are getting back to us re. the Judicial Review application for an independent inquiry tomorrow. So when they do, Oury Clark, the pro-bono lawyers representing the bereaved, injured, and survivors who are asking for an independent inquiry into the 7 July bombings will issue a statement on our behalf.
I will put on my suit and go down to Oury Clark's offices tomorrow to answer questions, and other members of the group are also on standby to answer media inquiries from 11.30am Friday 7 September.

Background on the legal challenge

Request issued for an inquiry after the Crevice trial
London Assembly backs our calls
Legal Challenge issued
7/7 Inquiry Group Vs. The Government

FRIDAY UPDATE: I predict that we will get told something along the lines of this:

''the Government is consulting on how in future the ISC should be appointed and should report to Parliament - with, where possible, hearings in public, a strengthened capacity for investigations, reports subject to more parliamentary debate and greater transparency over appointments to the committee''
as per Brown's security strategy announced in June 2007 (and blogged about here)

Let's have a quick fisking before breakfast, shall we?

As the ISC at the moment has NO independent investigator at all, since John Morrison was sacked by Blair for bravely speaking out about the misuse of intelligence in the run up to the Iraq war making the case about WOMD, you could frankly appoint a spaniel sniffer dog to the panel and thus deliver a ''strengthened capacity for investigation''.

The appointees are presently MPS hand-picked by the PM. They report to the PM and not Parliament. How they are appointed is not transparent. And, anyway, the skill set for being an MP and being a watchdog/investigator are entirely different things.

Reports subject to more Parliamentary debate is something, but again, debating something is not the same thing as an independent person fully investigating what M15 and the police knew about the 7/7 bombers , cross examining witnesses and compelling evidence, making recommendations and having them acted upon, is it?

And having delivered an unsatisfactory first stab at it, then seeing how the aftermath of the Crevice trial exposed the ISC report as flawed, how can we trust them to have another go?
The original ISC 7/7 report completely exonerated the security services of failing to stop the 7/7 bombers - despite the fact that the 7/7 men were bugged and followed hanging about with murderous terrorists weeks away from unleashing a UK atrocity? The 7/7 ringleaders were taped and listened to chatting about jihad and how to commit crimes ( planning to kill British subjects in the armed forces abroad, defrauding UK companies of £20,000 - which is certainly enough to arrest anyone. And all this came out in the Crevice/Fertiliser bomb plot trial. ( which was a great result for the security services but bittersweet in that it also exposed their great failure).

And if they had been arrested, rather than let go to carry on with their criminal activity and their jihad plans, (for whatever reason, following a decision made by somebody who is as yet nameless and unaccountable) - then perhaps 52 innocent people might be alive today. And 700 people not injured.

How defensive would you be if you were asked to investigate yourself? Hmmm.

A Parliamentary Committee or something that has been reformed to look like one, is not the same as an independent inquiry or a public inquiry, is it?

And so if we get the above, and the same tired old tripe about ''diversion of resources'', we shall be very disappointed. And we shall challenge it in the Courts.

Anyway, I'm off to Oury Clark's offices in John St, to see if my predictions are right.
Press conference outside in 10 John St at 11.30am.

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10 Comments:

Blogger Graham the Funky Aardvark said...

Best wishes and with you in spirit

September 07, 2007 12:23 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I do not see what an inquiry could possibly achieve, except to dredge up memories of something which it is now time to move on from. I consider that your damning view of the actions of the security services is based on a very understandable reaction to what happened to you, but not on evidence. In that sense, your speculation is just that - speculation, precisely the thing that you accuse what you call the 'conspiraloons' of.

Life is a risk: we take a risk every time we walk out of our own front door. You could double, treble, quadruple the number of staff at MI5 and still potentially miss that key clue or fact that led you to the doors of terrorists. By their very nature, terrorists are secretive and even if MI5 had information about them, fortunately we live in a country where you have to commit a crime to be arrested.

How on earth will dragging all this up again bring peace to anyone. It happened. It's sad, and I'm sure that lessons have been learned for the future. But no inquiry will bring back those who perished. It's time to consign these events to the past, and move on. I've seen this sort of thing eat up too many people's lives. The greatest mark of respect for the dead is to do exactly what millions of Londoners did the day after the bombing: get on the Tube, go to work, and do not allow such things to interfere with your life.

September 08, 2007 11:16 am  
Blogger Rachel said...

Anonymous,who are you to tell the families of the dead, who are campaigning for an inquiry, what the greatest mark of respect for the dead is? The inquiry is sought by many bereaved, injured and survivors. We are getting on with our lives. We are travelling on tubes. And we are campaigning for an inquiry. This is not 'therapy'.

Nor is it 'speculation'. This is hard work, undertaken because there is EVIDENCE - as revealed in COURT - that the bombers were known to the security services. I suggest you read BBC news relating to the Crevice trail, for a starter, or any other reports you care to choose.It is quite clear that there were serious failures. It is also perfectly reasonable in this country to arrest someone on suspicion of planning to defraud Jewsons of £20k and to kill British soldiers and staff abroad. Fraud and murder, and planning to execute fraud and murderARE crimes which you can be arrested for.


You're 'sure' lessons have been learned for the future, are you? You cannot be sure. You can only speculate, like a conspiraloon.

On the other hand, we can produce expert witnesses that state that the lessons have not been learned.
That mistakes, serious ones, were made, which is forgivable, but the covered up, which is not forgivable.

If you knew that, would you be able to keep silent?

You might also note, by reading my blog or observing my life that I do have a life. In the last year I ahve started a new career, got married, and published a book. I also use the tube, getting back on a tube a few days after the bombings.

Nice try.

Next.

September 08, 2007 11:41 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am not sure why you feel the need to act in such an antagonistic way towards anyone holding a different viewpoint.

I lost my wife at 7/7. So 'nice try' and 'next'.

September 08, 2007 1:05 pm  
Blogger Jo said...

I feel for you both. Anonymous - how very very sad for you. I hope that the world seems a happier place for you now than it must have done for those awful months after 7/7.

We are all in the dark...walking our own paths...trying to make sense of things, find the answers that we personally must find. For some - Rachel, and others, this means leaving no stone unturned to find the truth, to know what truly happened and why - and how we as a country can respond to lessen (not eliminate of course, we can never do that) the odds of it happening again. Lessening the odds of others having to go through what you, and your wife did.

For you, the best response is to move on...and I can see that truly. I understand your words and why you write them.

I have no idea at all where I would be mentally, emotionally, if I had been directly involved as you both were.

Both responses make sense, are worthy of respect, if they make sense for you, in your situation, where you personally are inside.

I wish you both peace in your hearts.

September 08, 2007 2:13 pm  
Blogger Henry North London 2.0 said...

There is the argument that you can't influence anything that happened in the past. The idea is to learn from it to make sure it the mistake is not repeated. In that respect I support the Inquiry, but on a personal level I try not to think about James's death too much on 7/7 because that is living in the past.

I try and look forward and I live in the present neither wishing that the past had not happened and hoping for a better tomorrow

Now, the current moment, is the reality I have but I can fully understand why anon here doesnt want the inquiry.

damned if you do and damned if you dont Sometimes there is no middle ground.

Sometimes the truth has to be fought for and some balk at this because the truth is very very bitter and some people are not happy to give it out.

September 08, 2007 3:05 pm  
Blogger Rachel said...

Anonymous I am sorry. I have been getting anatagonistic and rude comments also from an anonymous source and thought you were the same anonymous. My apologies.

September 09, 2007 12:28 pm  
Blogger Rachel said...

I'm turning the anonymous comment function off again.

September 09, 2007 2:54 pm  
Blogger Vanessa said...

Fingers crossed that you and the others finally achieve your goal of an independent inquiry. It might be what everyone touched by 7/7 needs but there are issues that need to be publicly discussed as they have implications for the future security of all of us. And for some affected, it might provide 'closure' (such a dreadful term!).

Sorry to hear that you're getting more aggressive anonymous comments again. Keep strong.

September 09, 2007 3:35 pm  
Blogger Henry North London 2.0 said...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6984268.stm

Sounds like you have a court battle on your hands

Eeek What can I say

Courts are not my favourite place at present

September 09, 2007 10:31 pm  

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