Another Day, Another Bomb
Something to keep in mind when reading Londoner's responses to today's car bomb near Piccadilly Circus, is that bombs are not new to this city. The 7 July public transport bombs from two years ago killed an unprecedented number of people but there have been people prepared to kill and maim innocent London passers-by for fun and profit at least since the nineteenth century.
Irish people were responsible for lethal bombings from the 1867 Clerkenwell Prison bomb (yeah, that's eighteen hundred something) to the 1996 Canary Wharf bomb. In the spring of 1999, the year I moved to London, a solitary bigot from Hampshire set off three nail bombs in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho.
At the time I was amazed at the public reaction, or rather lack thereof. But it's all part of the background noise of living in London, and has been for hundreds of years. It's scary when It happens every now and then but the chances of being one of the unfortunate ones are slimmer than winning the lottery. In a couple of days it will all be forgotten.
Irish people were responsible for lethal bombings from the 1867 Clerkenwell Prison bomb (yeah, that's eighteen hundred something) to the 1996 Canary Wharf bomb. In the spring of 1999, the year I moved to London, a solitary bigot from Hampshire set off three nail bombs in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho.
At the time I was amazed at the public reaction, or rather lack thereof. But it's all part of the background noise of living in London, and has been for hundreds of years. It's scary when It happens every now and then but the chances of being one of the unfortunate ones are slimmer than winning the lottery. In a couple of days it will all be forgotten.