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'Normal life' deterred more suicide bombs, says Tube chief
Nicholas Cecil and Martin Bentham29 Jan 2009
THE speed at which Londoners got back to normal life after the 7/7 bombings helped to deter further terror attacks on the Tube, MPs were told today.
London Underground managing director Tim O'Toole told the Commons Home Affairs select committee that the Tube would always be a potential target.
However, he added that a repeat bombing was now unlikely because of the efforts of staff and others to minimise the disruption and chaos caused by the 2005 attacks. "I believe that the performance of the Underground in bringing the service back following 7/7 makes us more secure because if you do not reward these people with the chaos they are looking for they go and they look elsewhere," Mr O'Toole told MPs.
He flatly denied a suggestion from security expert Patrick Mercer, who chairs a Commons committee investigating anti-terror measures, that there have been two foiled terror attacks on the Tube since the London bombings.
He added: "I don't believe that suicide is a sustainable business practice. I think that Baader Meinhof went away, the IRA went away, this will go away."
But after the hearing, Mr Mercer told the Evening Standard: "It's got to be a very bold man indeed to even suggest that the IRA is finished and that suicide bombers will simply disappear."
