Some will attempt to blame Tony Blair's government for bringing this horror to our capital. The people who set these bombs expect this reaction. They saw it in Madrid, and they crave it in London.
They must get the reverse. Under Blair's leadership Britain has taken its place in a war against Islamofascism, against the bombers of New York, Bali and Beslan, against those who believe that their love of death is stronger than our love of life. We saw that love clearly displayed last Saturday at 'Live 8' in one of this city's great parks - striking proof of this young, diverse nation's desire to engage with and assist the wider world.
We are right to be in this war, and right to work with progressive forces in the Islamic world who want a life free from tyranny, totalitarianism and the cult of death - such as the millions who voted in Iraq, such as the millions who today yearn for freedom in Iran. Together with our Moslem allies we must redouble our efforts - and, yes, our troop deployments - so that we can isolate and destroy Bin Ladenism wherever it chooses to make a stand, and send the clerical fascists back to the dark ages.
But many people will blame Tony Blair. Some of them have spent years saying that there is no real terror threat anyway, that the war is something worthy of inverted commas, something got up by the American right for its own dark purposes. Let yesterday prove that they were wrong. Let yesterday prove that 60 years after defeating another brand of this same poison, Londoners and Britons of all faiths and backgrounds can still see clearly who their enemies are, and refuse to bow the knee.
Phillip Craig