BRITAIN: The queen and prime minister led the silent tribute to the dead of 7/7, writes Frank Millar.
Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Tony Blair led the United Kingdom yesterday in a silent act of remembrance on the first anniversary of the July 7th London bombings.
And last night relatives of the 52 innocent people who died and hundreds of those who survived concluded a service of commemoration in Regent's Park by completing a massive floral mosaic in the shape of a flower with seven petals marking the seventh day of the seventh month on which "home grown" terrorists had brought death and devastation to the streets of the capital.
The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, said the attacks had been "an act of evil" which could not be dignified "by association with any kind of faith".
Speaking on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, where traffic came to a halt as he led crowds gathered there in observing the midday two minutes silence, the bishop declared: "In this cathedral, the leaders of all faith communities in London came together. . .to remember those who had died, to make a common pledge that we were going to work together to ensure that London was a place where we can celebrate our common values, we can actually enjoy the diversity of this city and we can live in a way that cherishes and doesn't disfigure humanity."
As he spoke, however, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair was again reminding that some remained intent on doing precisely that - warning that the threat of further terrorist attacks in the UK had "palpably increased" in the past year and that the risk of another getting through was "very real".
And, as a year ago, Mayor Ken Livingstone spoke London's defiance. Describing the aftermath of the 7/7 attacks as the capital's greatest trial since the second World War, Mr Livingstone said: "The bombers wanted to shatter what London has become because it stands for everything they are opposed to. Instead they saw Londoners of every race and creed come out in common grief, solidarity and humanity."
As the bells of St Paul's tolled, the mayor and culture secretary Tessa Jowell began the day of public and private events, laying flowers at Kings Cross station at 8.50am, one year to the minute when three of the four suicide bombers exploded their devices on the Underground.
Mr Livingstone, Ms Jowell, Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy and London Underground managing director Tim O'Toole laid memorial wreaths then stood in silence, heads bowed.
An hour later the bells tolled again as Mr Livingstone and Mr Hendy were joined in Tavistock Square by George Psaradakis, the Greek-born driver of the number 30 bus ripped apart in the blast killing 13 people.
Memorial plaques were later unveiled at private ceremonies at Kings Cross, Russell Square, Edgware Road, Aldgate and Tavistock Square.
Victims' families and survivors also attended another private event in the Museum of London at which a book of tributes, with a foreword written by the Prince of Wales, was unveiled ahead of a service at St Ethelburga's church in the City of London.
Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, joined the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in observing the two minutes silence at the Order of the Thistle service in St Giles's Cathedral in Edinburgh.
Mr Blair arrived unannounced to stand alongside emergency service workers outside the headquarters of the London Fire Brigade during the silence, while Home Secretary John Reid joined Sir Ian Blair and other senior police officers outside New Scotland Yard as the chimes of Big Ben signalled the start of the nationwide standstill.
Mr Blair said the silence across the UK was a chance for the whole nation to come together and offer support to those who lost loved ones or were injured "on that terrible day".
He went on: "This is a time when our country unites across all races, religions and divides and stands in solidarity with all those who have suffered so much in sympathy with them and in defence of the values we share."
However, there was a reminder of continuing difference and controversy as the former general secretary of the Muslim Council, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, supported calls from the victims' families - including Muslim victims of the bombings - for a public inquiry.
Relatives read poems dedicated to the memory of the victims during last night's service of song and poetry at which the names of the 52 people who died were read aloud for the first time.
At the conclusion of the service, the families were joined by the Duke of Kent, Prime Minister Blair, Conservative leader David Cameron, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, Mr Livingstone and Commissioner Blair to complete the heart of the floral tribute which Ms Jowell said should stand in minds as "a symbol of commemoration and of love".