7/7 INQUIRY NEEDED TO RESTORE LONDONERS' CONFIDENCE IN POLICE

2.47.32pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 1st May 2007

The London Assembly Liberal Democrats have criticized Ken Livingstone today for not supporting the victims of the London bombings by calling for a full inquiry into the atrocities of the 7th July bombings.

Liberal Democrat member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Dee Doocey, said:

"The Mayor's assertions that there should not be a full and independent inquiry demonstrate complete insensitivity to the families and friends of those affected by the 7 July bombings. An inquiry led by the parliamentary intelligence committee would not be independent. There are too many questions and Londoners deserve answers.

"The police have come in for a lot of criticism lately, some justified and some not. The Forest Gate raid and the de Menezes shooting have severely dented many Londoners' confidence in the police and their ability to interpret intelligence. It's time to give the police and the intelligence services a chance to set the record straight and tell their side of the story. An inquiry into the 7 July events would give Londoners the assurance that there were no intelligence failures prior to the bombings.

'There must also be lessons learned from this event. The inquiry would find out exactly what went wrong and ensure it doesn't happen again."