December 13-14, 2005: British Government Will Not Allow Any Public Inquiry into 7/7 London Bombings

On December 13, 2005, British Home Secretary Charles Clarke says there will not be a public inquiry into the 7/7 London bombings. The next day, British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirms this, saying, “If we ended up having a full scale public inquiry… we would end up diverting a massive amount of police and security service time.” He promises victims will get a full account of what happened and says, “We do essentially know what happened.” Instead of an independent judicial inquiry, a senior civil servant will compile a “narrative” on the bombings. Clarke admits the “narrative” will not be an independent assessment, but says, “Certainly, there is no question of a cover-up of any kind.” Victims’ relatives, opposition MPs, and Muslim leaders protest the decision. [Guardian, 12/14/2005; BBC, 12/14/2005; London Times, 12/14/2005] The conservative Daily Telegraph is critical, saying: “The refusal… to grant a public inquiry into the events surrounding the London bombings on July 7 is but the latest example of the government trying to avoid scrutiny of a particular event in which the state or its servants have a definite interest.… A ‘narrative’ is no substitute, especially for the families of those killed in the bombings, for a robust inquisitorial process aimed at determining the truth. No lessons will be learnt from it for the future protection of our people against such terrorist attacks.” [Daily Telegraph, 12/15/2005]