‘When They Try to Intimidale Us, We Will Not Be Intimidated. When They Seek to Change Our Country or Our Way of Life By These Methods, We Will Not Be Changed’
A defiant Tony Blair last night vowed Britain would not be cowed by the “barbaric” terrorist bombings which tore through London.
The Prime Minister last night returned to Gleneagles to carry on with the G8 summit, underlining his determination that terrorists must not be allowed to succeed.
Following the news of the blasts, Mr Blair broke off from the talks in Scotland to fly back to the capital to chair a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency response team.
In a televised address from Downing Street, he said there would be “most intense police and security service action” to ensure the perpetrators were brought to justice.
He said: “They are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cow us, to frighten us out of doing the things that we want to do, trying to stop us from going about our business as normal, as we are entitled to do, and they should not and they must not succeed.
“When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated. When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods, we will not be changed.
“This is a very sad day for the British people, but we will hold true to our British way of life.”
Although Mr Blair did not directly attribute responsibility for the attacks, he said it was known that “these people act in the name of Islam”.
He stressed the “vast majority” of Muslims abhorred terrorism and welcomed a Muslim Council statement condemning the attacks.
His spokesman said he was emphatic that the attacks should not be allowed to damage community relations in Britain.
Before leaving Gleneagles, Mr Blair appeared with the rest of the leaders attending the summit to read a joint statement declaring their determination not to allow the terrorists to triumph.
He said the bombings would not “weaken in any way our resolve to uphold the most deeply held principles of our societies and to defeat those who would impose their fanaticism and extremism on all of us.
“We shall prevail and they shall not.”
American President George Bush said it was now “a war on terror for us all”.
He said: “The contrast couldn’t be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberties and those who kill, who have such evil in their hearts.” Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was temporarily drafted in to take over the chairmanship of the G8 proceedings while Mr Blair was in London.
The summit communiqu on climate change, which had been due yesterday, has been delayed until today, when it will be released with the Africa communiqu.
As soon as the summit is over, Mr Blair is expected to return to London to chair a further Cobra meeting.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country was the victim of last year’s Madrid bombings, was among the first foreign leaders to contact Mr Blair to offer his support.
In Westminster, Home Secretary Charles Clarke briefed a sombre House of Commons on the attacks.
The opposition parties immediately rallied behind the Government to condemn the perpetrators. Tory leader Michael Howard said it was a “dreadful day” for London and for the country as a whole.
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said those responsible “had no interest in the liberty and dignity of individuals”.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was still in Singapore after Wednesday’s International Olympic Committee vote, said: “I urge Londoners from all of this city’s diverse communities and faiths to support one another and stand together against terrorism.”
The one dissenting voice was Respect MP George Galloway, who said Londoners had “paid the price” for Mr Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We argued, as did the security services in this country, that the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq would increase the threat of terrorist attack in Britain,” he said.
“Tragically, Londoners have now paid the price of the Government ignoring such warnings.”