7/7 victims call on politicians to save service

 

Survivors of the July 7 London bombings today accused politicians of turning their backs on victims by refusing to stump up £5,000 for this year’s memorial service.

Organisers of the annual commemoration — which draws families of victims and survivors of the terrorist attack to Hyde Park — say it is under threat after losing National Lottery funding from April. Appeals to Downing Street and City Hall to plug the gap have not led to any financial commitments.

The annual service is organised by the Tim Parry and Jonathan Ball Foundation for Peace, with the London event — scheduled for Sunday July 6 — requiring £5,000 of its threatened £150,000 Survivors for Peace programme.

Jacqui Putnam, 63, who survived the Edgware Road Tube bombing, said: “The amount of money we’re talking is the same as a politician’s expense claim. It’s peanuts by the Government’s standards.” Nick Taylor, chief executive of the foundation which supports survivors and families of terrorism victims, today called on the Government and the Mayor to reconsider.

Mr Taylor met Boris Johnson’s policy adviser Sir Edward Lister last year and was told City Hall would not pay for the programme or the memorial event.

The Mayor’s Office today said it would do all it could to ensure a service took place, if the families wanted one.

Mr Taylor also urged David Cameron to find a department of state to take responsibility for support for the victims of terrorism, survivors and their families. He was backed by Dame Tessa Jowell MP, who served as minister for humanitarian assistance after 7/7.

The Peace foundation was set up in 1993 by the parents of Tim Parry, 12, and Jonathan Ball, three, who were both killed by an IRA bomb.

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Ivan Lewis said he would raise the issue in Parliament. “We must never forget the innocent people who lost their lives and the survivors who continue to live with the trauma caused by the horrific events of 7/7,” he said.

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