158 quotes found
"Queen Elizabeth II issued an official statement, saying "I know I speak for the whole nation in expressing my sympathy to all those affected and the relatives of the killed and injured. I have nothing but admiration for the emergency services as they go about their work." On July 8, the Queen visited the Royal London Hospital, near Liverpool Street, where she visited some of the victims of the attacks, and emergency staff who responded to the attacks. She later made a speech described by the BBC as "unusually forthright", in which she called the bombings an outrage, and said that "those who perpetrate these brutal acts against innocent people should know that they will not change our way of life." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4665537.stm On July 10, the Queen again commented on the attacks, during the UK's commemoration services for the 60th anniversary of World War II. The Queen also ordered that the Union Flag on Buckingham Palace fly at half-mast."
"- The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited St Mary's Hospital in Paddington on July 8. The Prince said "It's been one of the things that many of us have dreaded for a long time and now they have finally got through," and added, "What I can never get over is the incredible resilience of the British people who have set us all a fantastic example of how to react to these kinds of tragedies." The Duchess also commented "It makes me very proud to be British" in response to the efforts of the emergency services."
"30px - Prince William of Wales, on tour in New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions said, "At this time I'm sure that I'm joined by New Zealanders and Lions supporters alike in extending to the families and loved ones of all those directly involved, my heartfelt sympathies.""
"30px - Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (then the Duke of York) visited the Transport for London staff and the Metropolitan Police at CentreComm, the London Buses Command and Control Complex in Buckingham Palace Road on July 8. The Duke met staff who co-ordinated the transport network in London following the attacks, and praised Londoners for their reactions, saying "The way that Londoners pulled together yesterday was quite extraordinary.""
"30px - The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on July 9 to meet victims of the attack and to thank staff."
"30px - The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was at the G8 summit in Glenagles, Scotland on the morning of the attacks. He described the attacks as “barbaric.” “Our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism upon the world,” he said. The Prime Minister left the G8 summit in Gleneagles despite Downing Street initially suggesting that reports he would return to London were false [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2005/07/07/explosions_plunge_london_into_chaos.html. He arrived back in London to consult with emergency services. The summit continued in his absence and he returned to Gleneagles in the evening. ."
"30px - The leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard: "We express our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of those who have lost lives and those who have been injured. We express our thanks and admiration for the heroic work of the emergency services and we fully support the Prime Minister in what he has said about our determination to defend and to protect our way of life" ."
"30px - The leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, Charles Kennedy: "These bombs have exploded as world leaders meet at Gleneagles. The moral contrast between those who seek to disrupt and destroy and those who are trying to build for the future could not be more stark. The terrorists must not prevail" ."
"30px - MP George Galloway said that the attacks were linked to Britain's involvement in the war on Iraq. "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. Tragically Londoners have now paid the price of the government ignoring such warnings." Other MPs refrained from linking Blair's actions in the Middle East with the bombing."
"30px - Mayor Ken Livingstone, speaking from Singapore, where he had been promoting the city's Olympic bid, called it a “cowardly attack”. Using the media to speak directly to the bombers, he said "In the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people … will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential. They choose to come to London, … because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don't want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail." "I want to say one thing specifically to the world today. This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers. It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners — black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old — indiscriminate attempt to slaughter, irrespective of any considerations for age, for caste, for religion or whatever. That isn't an ideology, that isn't even a perverted faith. It is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder.""
"30px - The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Michael Savory, was also in Singapore, and issued a statement urging Londoners to be defiant, saying, "“I am sure that on Monday at 7.00am the City will be humming as usual to prove that Londoners just get on with it. That’s our best answer to terrorist bullies. I certainly shall be at my desk, opposite the Bank of England, working as I have done for 40 years. Terrorists have not won, cannot win and will not win.""
"30px - Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell issued a statement in behalf of the Scottish Executive saying, "I had planned today (Thursday) to have a conversation with Mayor Ken Livingston to congratulate him on the success for London yesterday in Singapore in winning the Olympic Games for 2012. Instead I have sent a message of condolence on behalf of the people of Scotland to the people of London and the families of those who have been injured or deceased in the terrorist atrocities that were seen in different locations in central London today.""
"30px - Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan issued a statement on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales, saying, "The whole of Wales will feel nothing but revulsion at these savage acts of terrorism targeted at commuters during London’s busy rush hour. On behalf of the people of Wales, I would like to express my deepest sympathies to the relatives of those killed and injured in this morning’s attacks.""
"30px - The 4 major political parties in Northern Ireland condemned the attacks. William McCrea spoke on behalf of the Democratic Unionist Party, saying, "sympathise with those who have been bereaved as a result of this terrible atrocity and our thoughts are with the many families who have been so cruelly robbed of their loved ones." The DUP also used their statement to attack Sinn Fein and the IRA, whom they accused of "planting more bombs in London than anyone else" ."
"The Republican Sinn Fein also condemned the attacks, with the Mayor of Moyle District Council, saying "On behalf of Sinn Féin I offer my sincere condolences to the victims and the families of those killed and injured and to the people of London"."
"30px - The European Parliament held a minute of silence to mourn any victims of the explosions ."
"- Commonwealth of Nations Secretary-General Don McKinnon issued a statement saying, "All of us throughout the Commonwealth family are shocked by these barbaric and cowardly attacks. Our thoughts go to all the victims and their families and friends. Terrorism cannot be allowed to succeed. The Commonwealth has spoken out loudly and clearly against this scourge. The killing and maiming of innocent men, women and children is unjustifiable.""
"G8 leaders prepared a statement, read on behalf of them all by Tony Blair, condemning the attacks as "an attack on civilised peoples everywhere", and saying that the G8 summit would proceed. ."
"The Gulf Co-operation Council "condemns the terrorist attacks which hit the British capital in several locations this morning"."
"- At NATO HQ in Brussels, the North Atlantic Council met for an extraordinary session, and issued a statement saying "The Council condemned in the strongest possible terms terrorism in all its forms. NATO Allies reaffirmed their determination to combat this scourge, and to defend with all means at their disposal the Alliance’s values of freedom, tolerance and democracy" ."
"30px - The International Olympic Committee stated that "The IOC was appalled by the barbaric attack". The IOC also confirmed that the attacks would not affect London's successful Olympic bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, stating "Security is one of the 17 themes of evaluating the Olympics and we have full confidence in the London authorities for a secure Olympic Games." ."
"30px - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan described the bombings as "an attack on humanity itself", and joined other world leaders in condemning the attacks. He said that he was personally "devastated" by the events. ."
"30px - The United Nations Security Council condemned "without reservation" the terror attacks and urged nations to prosecute perpetrators of such "barbaric acts." In a resolution adopted by a 15-0 vote in an emergency meeting, the council expressed condolences to the victims of the bomb blasts."
"25px|Argentina Argentina - President Néstor Kirchner sent a press release that stated "We're convinced that the respect to life is the pillar of the democratic coexistance, and manifest our total condemn of any kind of terrorist act, such as the one suffered by the British citizenship, and hope for the people responsible to be aprehended and submitted to justice. The Argentine people feels deeply identified with the victims and their relatives, to whom we would like to express our deepest sentiments of consternation and solidarity.""
"25px|Brazil Brazil - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that "Brazil expresses its harshest condemnation of this most recent, deplorable terrorist act" and voiced "solidarity with the suffering of the victims' families.""
"25px|Canada Canada - Prime Minister Paul Martin offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the bombings also calling the bombings "an unspeakable attack on the innocent and on a way of life," as well as "our collective freedom has come under attack by those who would use violence and murder to force extremism on the world." Martin has also requested Canadian flags on all federal buildings be lowered to half-staff. [http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/berne-halfmasting/index_e.cfm."
"The Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson, said in a statement, "The world has once again witnessed the horrors of terrorism and we have all been shaken by these shocking and terrifying events. All Canadians are saddened to see this tragedy unfold and we give the people of Britain our heartfelt sympathy"."
"25px|Chile Chile- President Ricardo Lagos said that "every Chilean repudiates what has happened today at dawn in London.""
"25px|Cuba Cuba- President Fidel Castro wrote, in a letter to the Queen, "I can assure you that the Cuban people, who have been a victim of terrorism for more than four decades, share your grief and condemn this unjustifiable attack on the British people". ."
"30px- Falkland Islands - Governor Howard Pearce sent a message of condolence to Queen Elizabeth II, saying, "The people of the Falkland Islands are deeply shocked and outraged by the appalling attacks which took place in London earlier today. On behalf of all Falkland Islanders, I convey our sympathy to those who have suffered injury or trauma as a result of these events and our deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives. While we may be many thousands of miles away in distance, we feel very close to all Londoners in spirit, and we know that they will respond with courage and fortitude.""
"25px|Mexico Mexico - A spokesman for President Vicente Fox said that "on behalf of the people of Mexico, the president would like to express his solidarity and support to the people and government of the United Kingdom, terrorism and violence against civilian population have no possible justification, President Vicente Fox has already given his condolences to Prime Minister Blair.""
"25px|Panama Panama - President Martín Torrijos visited the British ambassador to Panama, James Ian Malcom, to express condolences and solidarity with the UK."
"25px|United States United States - President George W. Bush spoke at the 31st G8 summit in Scotland, saying "I spent some time recently with the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and had an opportunity to express our heartfelt condolences to the people of London, people who lost lives. I appreciate Prime Minister Blair's steadfast determination and his strength. He's on his way now to London here from the G8 to speak directly to the people of London. He'll carry a message of solidarity with him.""
"25px|Cyprus Cyprus - President Tassos Papadopoulos stressed, that "the Government and the people of Cyprus strongly condemn such horrendous acts of terror and stand in full solidarity with the British people and the rest of the international community in the fight against terrorism of all kinds""
"25px|Czech Republic Czech Republic - President Václav Klaus wrote in a statement for the Queen: "We are jointly facing those who would like to destroy the values upon which our civilisation rests by their coward inhuman acts." "Along with you, we are determined not to yield to the forces which are seeking to destroy everything in which we believe through violence," Klaus wrote in the letter, in which he voiced his deepest sympathies."
"25px|Denmark Denmark - Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has stated: "Again we're witnessing scruples' and barbaric attacks against completely innocent people – civilians, women and children... Terrorists use fear and terror as political pressure. We can't - and will not allow that. We shall never give in to terrorists." - Later he sent an official condolence letter to Tony Blair. ."
"25px|Finland Finland - President Tarja Halonen expressed condolences in a letter to the Queen. In it she said "It is with profound sadness that we in Finland have received the news of the fatal bomb explosions in London, in which precious human lives were lost and many seriously injured." Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja also expressed condolences, stating: "I vehemently condemn these shocking and cruel acts.""
"25px|France France - Jacques Chirac, describing the attackers as “savages” said that “these attacks have without any doubt reinforced the solidarity between the eight [heads of government]” at the G8 summit , adding that the attacks would also strengthen the fight against terrorrism."
"25px|Germany Germany - Chancellor Gerhard Schröder called the attacks "cowardly and perfidious", while Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer declared his "unswerving solidarity" with London."
"30px Gibraltar - Chief Minister Peter Caruana, send a message of condolence to the Queen, saying "Please accept the sympathy and solidarity of the people and Government of Gibraltar in the face of these cowardly and wicked attacks on London and its people. Please accept our condolences on the loss of life.""
"25px|Greece Greece - Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis stated "On the part of the government and the Greek people, I would like to express my deepest condolences" and added "Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.""
"25px|Hungary Hungary - Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány called the attacks "lowly and inhuman", and expressed his "sincere sympathy" with the families of victims and with the inhabitants of London. Outgoing President Ferenc Mádl likewise condemned the attacks and expressed his condolences. [http://www.keh.hu/index2.php?fm=9&am=0&l=&hir=424"
"25px|Iceland Iceland - Iceland’s president, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, says that terrorist attacks have paralyzed the city. “The British nation has shown great courage and is resolved to deny the terrorists success in their attack on the open and free society.”"
"25px|Iceland Iceland - Prime Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson says it is our duty to stand together in the fight against the forces that organize attacks such as the one that occurred in London today. He says that counter-terrorist preparations and surveillance will increase in Europe in the wake of the attacks, including Iceland."
"25px|Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland - Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said that "after yesterday's outpouring of great joy, today is a tragic and difficult day for London.""
"25px|Netherlands Netherlands - Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende stated: "Continuous intensive attention is required in the war against terrorism. Terrorism is an evil that can hit each European country. Cooperation in the EU and worldwide is crucial to counter this evil.""
"25px|Norway Norway - Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has stated "On behalf of the Norwegian Government, I wish to express my deepest condolences and sympathy. My thoughts are with all those who were injured and the bereaved families, and with the people of the United Kingdom. We are mourning with you in this time of grief." ."
"25px|Poland Poland - The Polish Parliament, Sejm lower house observed a moment of silence."
"25px|Portugal Portugal - Prime Minister José Sócrates says, in a statement made from the national Parliament, "The terrorist threat is global and demands for a global response. If any doubt would existed about the priorities of Europe, this dramatic attack obligies all the 25 European Union states to stay together in this fight.""
"25px|Romania Romania - President Traian Basescu expressed his solidarity with the British people and authorities."
"25px|Russia Russia - President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences over the attacks and has called on all countries to unite in the fight against international terrorism."
"25px|Spain Spain - Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has stated "I want to express the condolences of the Government and the Spanish people to relatives of the victims of this horrible attacks. I absolutely share the sentiments stated by my colleague Tony Blair. Moral strength of democracy is far superior than such vile and cowardly methods of terrorism.""
"25px|Sweden Sweden - Prime Minister Göran Persson stated: "It's is an attack on our open society. It's an attack on a democracy that's hosting a meeting to discuss such difficult issues as the climate change and the poverty of Africa. In this situation it's important that we hold together, that we're steady in the fight against terror and that we give all the support that we can give to British authorities but also to the people who has been affected, and we of course also express our sympathy with the British people and all the single people who today have received messages that near and dear have been affected by serious injuries or death. [...] The same icy feeling as after 9/11, the same definite opinion: this is not something that we'll give away for. If this will become the future norm for how to decide the political agenda, then we'll live in a whole other Europe, a whole other world, and that's something none of us wishes. Now we defend the open society.""
"25px|Turkey Turkey - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that "we have always stressed that the fight against terror is something we all have to join into together. I believe especially that our mutual intelligence organizations need to pool their information and knowledge to be better able to support one another against attacks of this kind.""
"25px|Israel Israel - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said "In these moments, Israel entirely expresses its solidarity with the people of Britain, aching with their pain, and sending condolences to the families of the dead and wishes of fast recovery to the wounded.""
"25px|Lebanon Lebanon - President Emile Lahoud said that "Lebanon, which has been the victim of violence for years, shares with the British their pain.""
"25px|United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahayan said the UAE government "condemns in the strongest possible terms these horrific crimes and declares full solidarity with the British government" and that the UAE also "supports any measures [the British government] may take to deal with" the attacks."
"25px|People's Republic of China China - Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao has said that "China is shocked" by this tragedy and "strongly condemns" any terrorist attacks targeted at civilians."
"25px|India India - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaking at the G8 summit in Scotland said, "Just a couple of days back, India faced a major terrorist attack and these incidents show that global terrorism does not recognize international boundaries and we all need to work together to counter it.""
"25px|Indonesia Indonesia - Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa has said, "We're shocked to hear the bombing attacks. We condemned them," He also expressed condolences to the victims and their relatives, and pray for the wounded for their early recovery. [http://www.deplu.go.id/2005/detail.php?doc=f3ce85d541c69bd4b423fb6b1ea523bf"
"25px|Japan Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said, "This terrorist action will never be forgiven, but remembered with great indignation. I offer Mr. Blair my full support to his response, and will gladly cooperate in any way possible.""
"25px|Malaysia Malaysia - Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said all Malaysians were saddened and distressed over the bomb attacks in London. He said every Malaysian hates violence and condemns it because violence is not the solution. He stated "I believe all countries and races condemn what had happened in London although we do not know yet who is responsible for the bombing.""
"25px|Pakistan Pakistan - Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said "We offer our heartfelt sympathies to those who suffered due to such acts.""
"25px|Singapore Singapore - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong condemned the terrorist attacks in London and expressed Singapore's sympathy to the victims of the attacks and their families, and to the British people and government."
"25px|Morocco Morocco - Communication Minister Nabil Benabdallah gave a statement on behalf of the Moroccon government, saying that "these heinous attacks underline the need for the international community to...unite its efforts to fight these acts and abort their objectives.""
"25px|South Africa South Africa - President Thabo Mbeki has condemned the series of explosions on London's transport system: "As South Africa, we join the rest of the international community in condemning any acts of terrorism"."
"25px|Australia Australia - Prime Minister John Howard, in a live-to-air broadcast, expressed his "horror and disgust at this cowardly attack on innocent people." Mr Howard also stated that "It's important that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our British allies at a time such as this" and that "these types of attacks will not alter the determination of free countries to do the right thing." Recognising an Australian connection to the British capital, Mr. Howard said "Australians will feel very deeply about this because London is the city, above all others outside our own country, we know and identify with." A small contingent of experts from the Australian Federal Police was dispatched to London to assist British authorities."
"25px|New Zealand New Zealand - Prime Minister Helen Clark has conveyed to the British government the "deep shock and sympathy and concern of the government and people of New Zealand", and has also requested New Zealand flags be flown at half-mast."
"25px|Canada Canada - Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said, "Acts of terrorism are completely without conscience...terrorism is a scourge on our civilization. Those who commit the acts do not care whom they kill or how much damage they inflict on those who are truly innocent.""
"25px|Canada Canada - Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper said, "We should not be under any illusion that we couldn't just as easily be a target, and certainly, obviously, we could be a basis from which terror could be launched," and "those who oppose the war in Iraq also oppose the war in Afghanistan, and Canada is very involved in that.""
"25px|Canada Canada - New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton felt, "repulsed by the violence we have witnessed today in London...we will not allow it to undermine Canadian society, our institutions or our beliefs in democracy, human rights, tolerance, and equality. Indeed, we must go forward today with greater determination to build a world that embraces these ideals.""
"25px|France France - French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called the attack "a tragedy for Great Britain" and "a tragedy for Europe as a whole which had already been hit in Madrid in March 2004." In a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair, De Villepin also offered "immediate, full and total collaboration of French services in helping you identify the authors of these crimes.""
"25px|United States United States - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said: "Before long, I suspect that those responsible for these acts will encounter British steel. Their kind of steel has an uncommon strength. It does not bend or break. The British have learned from history that this kind of evil must be confronted. It cannot be appeased. Our two countries understand well that once a people give in to terrorists’ demands, whatever they are, their demands will grow. The British people are determined and resolute. And I know the people of the United States are proud to stand at their side."."
"25px|United States United States - Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean stated, "I join all Americans today in offering my condolences to the victims of today's vicious terrorist attacks in London. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their friends and their families. We remain steadfast in our commitment to defeating those who threaten our freedom and values. At a time when world leaders were working together to help make our world a better place, these terrorists were plotting to disrupt that effort by killing and injuring innocent people. We will continue to stand with our allies around the world to defeat terrorism and protect our liberty and freedom.""
"25px|Australia Australia - Australian Labor Party leader Kim Beazley said the terrorists were "sub-human filth who must be captured and eliminated." He also stated: "The evil that they stand for must be confronted and they need to know that nothing they can do changes our values and nothing they do eliminates our resolve to deal with them"."
"The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, spoke of his horror and grief. Amid widespread speculation that the bombings were the work of Islamic extremists, he said that, as it happened, he had "spent this morning with Muslim colleagues and friends in West Yorkshire; and we were all as one in our condemnation of this evil and in our shared sense of care and compassion for those affected in whatever way. Such solidarity and common purpose is vital for us all at this time of pain and sorrow and anger." On Friday he gave the "Thought for the Day" on BBC radio 4 in which he spoke of the difference between shocked silence and calmness. [http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/40/00/acns4003.cfm."
"The Muslim Council of Britain said that it "utterly condemns" the "indiscriminate acts of terror.""
"The Anglican Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, issued a statement early on Thursday saying "The attack on London is not an attack on Presidents and men of power but an attack on ordinary Londoners travelling to work by bus and tube...On Wednesday evening St Paul’s Cathedral was packed with Londoners come to listen to the Secretary General of the UN and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what can be done to tackle poverty in the world. The atmosphere was electric and the determination to do something practical to help was obvious. That is the real agenda in today’s world. By contrast this act of violence is a cruel irrelevance.""
"The Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network have issued a public statement condemning the attacks, offering their condolences to the British people, and pledging their support in bringing the terrorists to justice."
"The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the attacks, stating "We join Americans of all faiths, and all people of conscience worldwide, in condemning these barbaric crimes that can never be justified or excused. American Muslims offer their sincere condolences to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured in today's attacks and call for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators.""
"General of The Salvation Army John Larsson sent out mobile relief teams and said to continue to pray for the people of London."
"The Islamic Circle of North America released a statement saying, "The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is shocked and horrified at the several attacks on the people of London during the rush hour mass transit. We join everyone in condemning such acts of terror and senseless violence. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones at this tragic moment. We trust that the authorities will determine those responsible for these barbaric acts and bring them to justice quickly." ."
"Leading Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim scholar Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah stated, "These crimes are not accepted by any religion. It is a barbarism wholly rejected by Islam.""
"25px|Vatican City Vatican City Pope Benedict XVI has called the attacks "inhuman" and "barbaric acts against humanity"."
"Moussa Abu Marzouk, a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, has condemned the bombings, saying "Targeting civilians in their transport means and lives is denounced and rejected."."
"Mayor of Toronto David Miller stated, "residents of Toronto stand in solidarity with people around the world in their condemnation of this and every act of terror.""
"Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris: "Today, we're all Londoners"."
"When the news reporter said "Shopkeepers are opening their doors bringing out blankets and cups of tea" I just smiled. It's like yes. That's Britain for you. Tea solves everything. You're a bit cold? Tea. Your boyfriend has just left you? Tea. You've just been told you've got cancer? Tea. Coordinated terrorist attack on the transport network bringing the city to a grinding halt? TEA DAMMIT! And if it's really serious, they may bring out the coffee. The Americans have their alert raised to red, we break out the coffee. That's for situations more serious than this of course. Like another England penalty shoot-out."
"It was market morning. The ground was covered nearly ankle deep with filth and mire; and a thick steam perpetually rising from the reeking bodies of the cattle, and mingling with the fog, which seemed to rest upon the chimney tops, hung heavily above … Countrymen, butchers, drovers, hawkers, boys , thieves, idlers, and vagabonds of every low grade, were mingled together in a dense mass: the whistling of drovers, the barking of dogs, the bellowing and plunging of beasts, the bleating of sheep, and the grunting and squealing of pigs; the cries of hawkers, the shouts, oaths, and quarrelling on all sides, the ringing of bells, and the roar of voices that issued from every public house; the crowding, pushing, driving, beating, whooping and yelling; the hideous and discordant din that resounded from every corner of the market; and the unwashed, unshaven, squalid, and dirty figures constantly running to and fro, and bursting in and out of the throng, rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene which quite confused the senses."
"If the stranger can make his way through the crowd … and can manage to raise himself a few feet above the general level, he sees before him in one direction, by the dim light of hundreds of torches, a writhing party-coloured mass, surmounted by twisting horns, some in rows, tied to rails which run along the whole length of the open space, some gathered in one struggling knot. In another quarter, the moving torches reveal to him, now and then, through the misty light, a couple of acres of living wool, or roods of pigs' skins. If he ventures into this closely wedged and labouring mass, he is enabled to watch more narrowly the reason of the universal ferment among the beasts. The drover with his goad is forcing the cattle into the smallest possible compass, and a little further on half a dozen men are making desperate efforts to drag refractory oxen up to the rails with ropes … The sheep, squeezed into hurdles like figs into a drum, lie down upon each other, and make no sign; the pigs, on the other hand, cry out before they are hurt. This scene, which has more the appearance of a hideous nightmare than a weekly exhibition in a civilized country, is accompanied by the barking of dogs, the bellowing of cattle, the cursing of men, and the dull blow of sticks … The hubbub generally abates from 12 o'clock at night, the time of opening, to its close at 3 p.m. the next day, although during the whole period as fresh lots are "headed up", individual acts of cruelty continue... Many of the drovers we doubt not are ruffians, but we believe the greater part of the cruelty is to be ascribed to the market's place itself which, considering the immense amount of business to be got through on Mondays and Fridays, is absurdly and disgracefully confined."
"London goes beyond any boundary or convention. It contains every wish or word ever spoken, every action or gesture ever made, every harsh or noble statement ever expressed. It is illimitable. It is Infinite London."
"Ah! my poor dear child, the truth is, that in London it is always a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be."
"Lo, where huge London, huger day by day, O'er six fair counties spreads its hideous sway."
"London is a bad habit one hates to lose."
"As I came down the Highgate Hill I met the sun's bravado, And saw below me, fold on fold, Grey to pearl and pearl to gold, This London like a land of old, The land of Eldorado."
"I've been walking about London for the last thirty years, and I find something fresh in it every day."
"I have often amused myself with thinking how different a place London is to different people. They, whose narrow minds are contracted to the consideration of some one particular pursuit, view it only through that medium. A politician thinks of it merely as the seat of government in its different departments; a grazier, as a vast market for cattle; a mercantile man, as a place where a prodigious deal of business is done upon 'Change; a dramatick [sic] enthusiast as the grand scene of theatrical entertainments; a man of pleasure, as an assemblage of taverns, and the great emporium for ladies of easy virtue. But the intellectual man is struck with it as comprehending the whole of human life in all its variety, the contemplation of which is inexhaustible."
"London is a splendid place to live in for those who can get out of it."
"A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, Dirty and dusty, but as wide as eye Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping In sight, then lost amidst the forestry Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy; A huge, dun cupola, like a foolscap crown On a fool's head—and there is London Town."
"Boston is among an increasing number of municipalities, universities, and private foundations that have announced plans to divest from fossil fuels. In late October, ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP26, Auckland, New Zealand; Copenhagen, Denmark; Glasgow, Scotland; Paris; Rio de Janeiro; and Seattle announced commitments to divest from fossil fuel companies and increase investments to make cities more sustainable. Also last month, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott signed a bill that requires the city’s three pension funds to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Those are in addition to divestment commitments made last year by Berlin; Bristol, England; Cape Town, South Africa; Durban, South Africa; London; Los Angeles; Milan; New Orleans; New York City; Oslo; Norway; Pittsburgh; and Vancouver, Canada. "Cities are at the forefront of tackling the climate emergency and there is real momentum to move investments away from fossil fuels and toward climate solutions," London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is chair-elect of C40 Cities, a network of mayors working to confront climate change, said in a statement. "I will continue to encourage more cities to join the movement, and urge national governments and private finance institutions to mobilize more finance to invest directly in cities to support a green and fair recovery.""
"Aline and I have travelled a very long, very hard road together, from our working class homes in rural Quebec to the palaces of London, Paris, Moscow, and Beijing. Politics was the route, public service the reward."
"After a while we were left all alone against the most tremendous military power that has been seen. We were all alone for a whole year. There we stood, alone. Did anyone want to give in? Were we down-hearted? The lights went out and the bombs came down. But every man, woman and child in the country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London can take it. So we came back after long months from the jaws of death, out of the mouth of hell, while all the world wondered."
"I don't know what London's coming to—the higher the buildings the lower the morals."
"Cockney feet Mark the beat of history Every street Pins a memory down. Nothing ever can quite replace The grace of London Town."
"London is a modern Babylon."
"London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained."
"London, thou art the flour of cities all!"
"London always reminds me of a brain. It is similarly convoluted and circuitous. A lot of cities, especially American ones like New York and Chicago, are laid out in straight lines. Like the circuits on computer chips, there are a lot of right angles in cities like this. But London is a glorious mess. It evolved from a score or so of distinct villages, that merged and meshed as their boundaries enlarged. As a result, London is a labyrinth, full of turnings and twistings just like a brain."
"London was nothing like Tokyo, where the past, all that remained of it, was nurtured with a nervous care…Here it seemed the very fabric of things, as if the city were a single growth of stone and brick, uncounted strata of message and meaning, age upon age, generated over the centuries to the dictates of some now-all-but-unreadable DNA of commerce and empire."
"Shorts, she thinks, drawing abreast of this trio, are somehow always wrong in London."
"Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner, That I love London so; Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner, That I think of her wherever I go. I get a funny feeling inside of me, Just walking up and down; Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner, That I love London town."
"London doesn't love the latent or the lurking, has neither time, nor taste, nor sense for anything less discernible than the red flag in front of the steam-roller. It wants cash over the counter and letters ten feet high."
"London acquired a deserved reputation as the greatest city on earth, a great jiving funkapolitan melting-pot, where, provided you did nothing to damage the interests of others and provided you obeyed the law, you could make of your life pretty much what you wanted. And that’s why we lead in all those creative and cultural sectors and that’s why we have the best universities. Because the best minds from across the world are meeting in some of the best pubs and bars and nightclubs, like subatomic particles colliding in a cyclotron. And they are producing those flashes of innovation that are essential for long term economic success."
"By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show."
"You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
"Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists."
"London faces its toughest Christmas since the war and the whole city will need to pull together to see us through this terrible period"
"I want to come back to Montgomery now, but I must stop by London for a moment. For London reminds me of something. I never will forget the day we went into London. The next day we started moving around this great city, the only city in the world that is almost as large as New York City. Over eight million people in London, about eight million, three hundred thousand; New York about eight million, five hundred thousand. London larger in area than New York, though. Standing in London is an amazing picture. And I never will forget the experience I had, the thoughts that came to my mind. We went to Buckingham Palace. And I looked there at all of Britain, at all of the pomp and circumstance of royalty. And I thought about all of the queens and kings that had passed through here. Look at the beauty of the changing of the guards and all of the guards with their beautiful horses. It’s a beautiful sight. Move on from there and go over to Parliament. Move into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. There with all of its beauty standing up before the world is one of the most beautiful sights in the world."
"London was asleep…but London never sleeps deeply, and its dreams are uneasy."
"Home of the Cockney and postwar socialism, London is no longer a city of aspiration for the working and middle classes; it now exists mainly for investors, their student offspring, and highly educated professionals who are taking over the traditional blue-collar areas like Hackney. Today only three of the city's thirty-two boroughs are affordable for people of median income. While many of the world's richest people live in London, four of its boroughs rank among the twenty poorest in England, and 27 percent of the city's population live in poverty. London's polarized economic landscape is typical of "superstar" cities. Other leading cities of Europe—Oslo, Amsterdam, Athens, Budapest, Madrid, Prague, Riga, Stockholm, Tallinn, Vienna, Vilnius—also suffer widening gaps between the top and the bottom of the social hierarchy."
"Cities like London, New York, Berlin, Paris, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, or Glasgow are high spots of slavery in comparison to Albania, Bulgaria, or even Central Africa. The slavery of the watch and clock, the bourgeois, anthropocentric slavery of material prestige and successful competition (to slave in order to keep up standards), the wage slavery of the proletarian, the school slavery of the children, the conscription slavery of the adolescents, the road slavery, the factory slavery, the barrack slavery, the party slavery, the office slavery, the parlor slavery of manners and conventions — all these slaveries make political "freedom" appear a bitter joke."
"I do own I have a most affectionate attachment for London—the deep voice of her multitudes "haunts me like a passion." I delight in observing the infinite variety of her crowded streets, the rich merchandise of the shops, the vast buildings, whether raised for pomp, commerce, or charity, down to the barrel-organ, whose music is only common because it is beautiful. The country is no more left as it was originally created, than Belgrave Square remains its pristine swamp. The forest has been felled, the marsh drained, the enclosures planted, and the field ploughed. All these, begging Mr. Cowper’s pardon, are the works of man’s hands; and so is the town—the one is not more artificial than the other."
"Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life. I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others – that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail. In the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential. They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don't want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."
"We're London, and we've got our own way of doing things, and it doesn't involve tossing bombs around where innocent people are going about their lives. And that's because we're better than you. Everyone is better than you. Our city works. We rather like it. And we're going to go about our lives. We're going to take care of the lives you ruined. And then we're going to work. And we're going down the pub. So you can pack up your bombs, put them in your arseholes, and get the fuck out of our city."
"London, the city I have been trying to make home for the past three decades, thinks in certainties. It enjoys classifications. Here the line separating road from pavement, one individual from another, pretends to be as definite as a scientific fact. Even the shadows are allotted their places, and London is a city of shadows, a city made for shadows, for people like me who can be here a lifetime yet remain as invisible as ghosts."
"I see you, London. Heathrow, immune from change during long spells of absence, oblivious to the distance of lovers, you seem to welcome me back with no less warmth than when I left. I see you, London. How I despised you and loved you. How I hated everything you stood for, and yet when deprived of your familiarity, your openness, how I missed you miserably. At once head of the colonial snake that poisoned my people and snared my lands, yet also bastion of justice, rule of law, and fair play. And even now, as I rush to embrace you again, your boots stamp on my people in Iraq and Afghanistan, while I know that my boots are nowhere safer than resting on your green parks. Why do you confuse me so, beating me with one hand while drying my tears with the other? How I tried for thirteen years to rip you out of my soul, to deny you, to bury you, but how I've longed for you to claim me from the hell that I just returned from. London, I see you."
"Spending the night out of doors has nothing attractive about it in London, especially for a poor, ragged, undernourished wretch. Moreover sleeping in the open is only allowed in one thoroughfare in London. If the policeman on his beat finds you asleep, it is his duty to wake you up. That is because it has been found that a sleeping man succumbs to the cold more easily than a man who is awake, and England could not let one of her sons die in the street. So you are at liberty to spend the night in the street, providing it is a sleepless night. But there is one road where the homeless are allowed to sleep. Strangely, it is the Thames Embankment, not far from the Houses of Parliament. We advise all those visitors to England who would like to see the reverse side of our apparent prosperity to go and look at those who habitually sleep on the Embankment, with their filthy tattered clothes, their bodies wasted by disease, a living reprimand to the Parliament in whose shadow they lie."
"During part of 1941 and 1942, when the Luftwaffe was busy in Russia, the German radio regaled its home audience with stories of devastating air raids on London. Now, we are aware that those raids did not happen. But what use would our knowledge be if the Germans conquered Britain? For the purpose of a future historian, did those raids happen, or didn't they? The answer is: If Hitler survives, they happened, and if he falls they didn't happen. So with innumerable other events of the past ten or twenty years. Is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion a genuine document? Did Trotsky plot with the Nazis? How many German aeroplanes were shot down in the Battle of Britain? Does Europe welcome the New Order? In no case do you get one answer which is universally accepted because it is true: in each case you get a number of totally incompatible answers, one of which is finally adopted as the result of a physical struggle. History is written by the winners."
"I realized that my gloss as chief economist, head of Economics and Regional Planning... was part of a sinister system aimed not at outfoxing an unsuspecting customer, but rather at promoting the most subtle and effective form of imperialism the world has ever known.... The march had begun and it was rapidly encircling the planet. The hoods had discarded their leather jackets, dressed up in business suits, and taken on an air of respectability. Men and women were descending from corporate headquarters in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, and Tokyo, streaming across every continent to convince corrupt politicians to allow their countries to be shackled to the corporatocracy, and to induce desperate people to sell their bodies to sweatshops and assembly lines... a world of smoke and mirrors intended to keep us all shackled to a system that is morally repugnant and ultimately self-destructive."
"To the person who has anything to conceal — to the person who wants to lose his identity as one leaf among the leaves of a forest — to the person who asks no more than to pass by and be forgotten, there is one name above others which promises a haven of safety and oblivion. London. Where no one knows his neighbour. Where shops do not know their customers. Where physicians are suddenly called to unknown patients whom they never see again. Where you may lie dead in your house for months together unmissed and unnoticed till the gas inspector comes to look at the meter. Where strangers are friendly and friends are casual. London, whose rather untidy and grubby bosom is the repository of so many odd secrets. Discreet, incurious and all-enfolding London."
"You are now In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more. Yet in its depth what treasures!"
"How different was my arrival in London from that to which I had been accustomed for many years past! In the capitals and most of the other towns of the Latin Republics the governors and mayors and the town bands were at the station to accord me a ceremonial welcome, as though I were a queen or a foreign representative of high rank. But chilly London!"
"I don't want to go to London, I told you I don't care. I don't want to go to London: To live there, I don't want to go to London."
"At one end, then, the London Corresponding Society reached out to the coffee-houses, taverns and Dissenting Churches of Piccadilly, Fleet Street, and the Strand, where the self-educated journeyman might rub shoulders with the printer, the shopkeeper, the engraver or the young attorney. At the other end, to the east, and south of the river, it touched those older working-class communities—the waterside workers of Wapping, the silk-weavers of Spitalfields, the old Dissenting stronghold of Southwark. For 200 years “Radical London” had always been more heterogeneous and fluid in its social and occupational definition than the Midlands or Northern centres grouped around two or three staple industries. Popular movements in London have often lacked the coherence and stamina which results from the involvement of an entire community in common occupational and social tensions. On the other hand, they have generally been more subject to intellectual and “ideal” motivations. A propaganda of ideas has had a larger audience than in the North. London Radicalism early acquired a greater sophistication from the need to knit diverse agitations into a common movement. New theories, new arguments, have generally first effected a junction with the popular movement in London, and travelled outwards from London to the provincial centres."
"We looked o'er London, where men wither and choke, Roofed in, poor souls, renouncing stars and skies, And lore of woods and wild wind prophecies, Yea, every voice that to their fathers spoke."
"You've got the temperament of a scholar, and you live on your own and write books. You don't have anything to do with civilization. You've been in London a few days and you can't wait to get back home. But how about the people who can't write books -- people there's no outlet for in this civilization? What about your new men who don't know what to do?"
"I love this great polluted place Where popstars come to live their dreams Here ravers come for drum and bass And politicians plan their schemes The music of the world is here The city can play any song They came to here from everywhere 'Tis they that made the city strong"
"Veni Gotham, ubi multos, Si non omnes, vidi stultos."
"London is the clearing-house of the world."
"If the parks be "the lungs of London" we wonder what Greenwich Fair is—a periodical breaking out, we suppose—a sort of spring rash."
"London is a roost for every bird."
"London is the epitome of our times, and the Rome of to-day."
"He was born within the sound of Bow-bell."
"London! the needy villain's general home, The common sewer of Paris and of Rome! With eager thirst, by folly or by fate, Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state."
"Then in town let me live, and in town let me die For I own I can't relish the country, not I. If I must have a villa in summer to dwell, Oh give me the sweet shady side of Pall Mall."
"The way was long and weary, But gallantly they strode, A country lad and lassie, Along the heavy road. The night was dark and stormy, But blithe of heart were they, For shining in the distance The lights of London lay. O gleaming lights of London, that gem of the city's crown; What fortunes be within you, O Lights of London Town!"
"The lungs of London."
"I perceived SOAS then, and I perceive it even more clearly now—at least the African section—as very involved in the defense of bourgeois ideology."
"It's my morning drug."
"This photo was proudly taken... when I was a 16 year old volunteer fighting the US backed invasion of Iran"
"Iran says it has right to defend itself after Israeli strike kills two soldiers"
"Incorporation and Objects: 6. The BBC's Mission The Mission of the BBC is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain."
"The notion that the BBC is independent of the government of the day is one of those quaint constitutional myths by which Britain is governed, like the doctrine of ministerial accountability or the notion that no tawdry political thought ever crosses the mind of the Attorney-General. It is true that the Home Secretary (or, nowadays, the Heritage Secretary) does not park his tanks on the Director General's lawn. But then he doesn't need to. After all, the government chooses the Governors of the BBC and, through the licence fee, sets its income."
"To-day's "twenty-firster" of the BBC was a cause of royal and general congratulation. The day will bring not increased liberty, but greater wartime burdens. Yet that "key of the door" feeling might break in and increase the liberties allowed by the Corporation to its speakers. Now fully adult itself, it should treat the public as adult when arranging discussions on enormous topics of the hour and eternity. The dread of shocking somebody with unusual or unpopular points of view has been the Corporation's constant bane. People who are capable of being shocked by the Beitish Broadcasting Corporationdeserve only a niche in the British Museum."
"The Second World War is often regarded as the BBC's finest hour. It certainly strengthened the position of 'the wireless' in national life. In no other major war can people's experience have been so pervasively mediated, and at the same time made bearable, by listening to the radio, while the BBC's international wartime role enormously enhanced its reputation around the world."
"Two years ago the Pilkington Committee—a team of 11 led by Sir Harry Pilkington—was appointed by the Government to judge the quality of the television & radio services provided by the non-profitmaking B.B.C. & the commercial Independent Television Authority. The result is: praise for the B.B.C. & criticism of the I.T.A. as being more interested in gathering the profits of advertising time than first rate entertainment. The Committee recommended a third television service run by B.B.C., colour television, & a switch from the 405 line picture to the 625 international standard."
"In the Last Night of the Proms, [[w:Malcolm Sargent|[Sir Malcolm] Sargent]] had bequeathed to the BBC a Janus-faced legacy: in one guise, an iconic national 'tradition' with which the bureaucrats and administrators would tamper at their peril; in another, an embarrassing anachronism which was urgently in need of a makeover. Either way, the result has been that in the forty years since Sargent's death, the issue of what the BBC should 'do' with or to the Last Night has been impossible to avoid, yet also very difficult to deal with. To many, the arguments in favour of change have been and still are overwhelming. The flag-waving of Sargent's Last Night seems to many to be at best an uncomfortable and inappropriate display of deluded and escapist nostalgia, and at worst to pander to the xenophobia and racism of football hooligans and the far right. Meanwhile, and as planned and developed by successive BBC controllers of music, the Proms themselves have become more cosmopolitan and internationalist (with many orchestras and conductors from overseas), more innovative and experimental (with new works commissioned, late night concerts, and an unprecedented range of early and contemporary music), and use more varied locations (among them the Roundhouse, Covent Garden and Westminster Cathedral in addition to the Albert Hall). This in turn means that in recent decades the Last Night has become increasingly detached, both from the country's contemporary circumstances and from the Promenade Concerts as a whole; and when it is beamed and broadcast around the world, it conveys a deeply misleading impression and image of both."
"One of the problems of working for BBC World Service programmes like Newshour is that no one in Britain listens to them. That’s not strictly true. If you broadcast at night you discover that there are a surprisingly large number of insomniacs around with their radios on throughout the night. ..."