Political reactions to London bombings

2.28.24pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 12th Jul 2005

There is continued nervousness following last week's bombings as exemplified by the mass disruption in the centre Twickenham on Friday afternoon after a suspect package was identified.

Vincent Cable, MP, said that: "it would not be sensible to rush around introducing fresh security measures simply so that politicians and the security agencies can show the public that they are 'doing something'. It is a fact of life that buses and other modes of public transport are inherently vulnerable. The priority remains precisely what it was before last Thursday: to ensure that there is good intelligence abut possible threats. I would certainly support more investment in the security services with this objective."

Vincent Cable does however plan to question the Prime Minister this week about the implications of the decision to switch 1500 Met officers to the Gleneagles summit including terrorism specialists.

"I doubt that anyone could have averted the atrocity last week and we should try to avoid scoring political points and being wise after the event. It is important, however, to understand why levels of security alert in London have been downgraded recently and security cover withdrawn".

"I have also been asked to question ministers about why premium rate - 0845, 0870 - numbers have been used for casualty help lines, penalising relatives of those who may be missing or injured. It is really a bit sick to take advantage of people in this way."