Meeting the Home Secretary

And so, the meeting between the Home Secretary, my father, and me.

My father and I arrived early, at 9.45am, and we sat in our suits outside Mr Clarke's offices, which were on the top floor of a former Church building in Norwich city centre. I had expected something grander, but there was the Home Secretary, the M.P of Norwich South, at his desk, in a small office, clearly visible through a glass front. Mr Clarke looked up and saw us, and got up from his desk and stepped outside his office, and greeted us, shaking our hands, and saying 'Oh, so you are here already, do come in'. His handshake was warm. He did not ask me for proof of identification.

And he led us inside. We sat at a small table facing him, and Mr Clarke requested that a constituency secretary be able to attend the meeting too. We agreed and we thanked Mr. Clarke for his time, and especially for seeing me, which was unusual, as was his personal office's response to me answering my questions raised on my blog.

(Nobody took notes in the meeting, which was scheduled for 10 minutes but went on for 25. I made notes as soon as I came out from which this post is drawn).

Mr. Clarke sat opposite me, with his arms crossed over his chest, resting his forearms on his tummy, (which is exactly what I do, when I am thinking what to say and how I feel about saying it.) He said that he wanted to say a few things first: to express his personal sympathy for what had happened to me and my family, to agree that water had passed under the bridge with regard to the cathedral altercation, ('though I still don't accept the version that was published about it'), to point out that he would always meet his constituents, to stress that he had given a very great deal of time and consideration to the matter of a public enquiry, and that he had spoken to many different people and departments during the course of the decision-making process, 'including families, whom I met after the November 1st service, and Muslims'.

I explained that I felt that I pretty much knew WHAT happened on 7th July, ( 'though I'm sure the narrative will have some interesting nuggets'), but what I was interested in was WHY July 7th happened 'because if we can understand that, we can have a dialogue and then there are seeds of hope for the future'. I thanked him for his letter explaining the points that I'd raised on my blog, and I said I understood its confirmation that there were a number of internal inquiries going on behind closed doors, with police, intelligence services, politicians, 'but this debate is not just for police and politicians to have. It affects all of us, the whole country - and it is ordinary people like me who take the tubes and buses, not politicians'. And that was why I supported a public inquiry.

He asked about Kings Cross United. I explained that it was a group of over 100 survivors. I explained that the group was non-political, comprised of people of all ages and backgrounds with different opinions, yet we had all found a sense of unity and support in talking together. And that I had been struck that there seemed to be a common desire amongst the survivors I had met to understand the reasons for July 7th, and to get something positive out of the experience, some learnings. I explained that I and some other survivors had recently had a letter from Tessa Jowell eight months on expressing sympathy and offering a meeting, and that this had arrived after survivors had given evidence in public at the London Assembly. The London Assembly was the first time that we had been asked for our testimony or feedback as far as I knew.

Mr. Clarke listened carefully as I spoke, and rocked backwards and forwards slowly ( something I do when I am listening but also thinking what to say, and a little uncomfortable.) He replied that he understood, and that he had survivors of dreadful tragedies come to see him before, and it was notable how people 'usually want two things, to understand why it happened and to get something positive out of it. And, we're not set up very well in this country for that to happen, for various reasons, usually legal ones, and insurance ones.' He looked thoughtful. He explained that there was a great deal of desire to learn lessons from July 7th, and that he was sorry that the letter from the DCMS took so long to arrive, and that there had been a division of responsibilities early on, with care of the victims, organising the Memorial Service, being done by the Department of Media Culture and Sport, and the Home Office managing other areas.

I said there was a sense of frustration when you felt you had useful things to contribute but were not able to. And that though I was not part of a political group, but just a random group of people who were on a tube train, I suppose the questions I was asking were 'political'. But I also thought this was above politics and not about blame. I said I 'd consider personally moving from a public to an independent enquiry 'if things like Crevice and defence of the realm stuff meant that some parts could not be shared with the public'. But I didn't see why we shouldn't be learning all we can, and discussing it together, publicly.

Mr Clarke looked thoughtful again. And then he offered to meet Kings Cross United, personally, and to come to one of our meetings, so he could listen to people's concerns and we could ask questions of him. He mentioned the media. I said KCU meetings were private and no media had ever been allowed access. And I thanked him, and said I would discuss it with the group but I personally thought that would be fantastic.

And I do. I think it is a great result.

My father talked of how there was a lack of trust between people and authorities including the Government, how he had been reading Exodus in the morning's service and spoke of people's anger and alientation from Government and power, then and now. He said for a moment, in the Cathedral, he had felt something of the rage and impotence of the young men, not being listened to. There was a brief moment of discomfort when Mr. Clarke quickly said that he didn't want to go over 'the incident' again. But then Mr. Clarke said he agreed that there was a lack of trust between people and Government. He began to speak almost wistfully about meetings he had attended ten years ago, set up by the Labour Lord Mayor of Norwich, Harry Watson. These meetings were an open forum when local politicians and the Bishop and local priests talked together two or three times a year, about the issues of the day.

This was ten years ago, it must have been in the early days of the Blair administration. My father said he remembered the meetings, and he offered to talk to the Bishop about setting them up again, and Mr. Clarke agreed. Or maybe he even suggested it, I can't remember.

He asked us if we had any more that we wanted to say, and I said, would he like a Kings Cross United badge? I gave him the badge, and he thanked me, and said that he could wear it if he met Kings Cross United. AndI thanked him, and so did Dad, and the meeting was over. Dad and I had coffee in another converted church ( Medieval-wool-boom-town Norwich is stuffed full of medieval church buildings now used for other purposes, like Puppet Theatres and cafes). Then we walked home.

I emailed Kings Cross United to let them know about the Home Secretary's offer to meet up with survivors. I phoned J, and then three friends from KCU.

And then I got out of my suit and into something more comfortable and chilled out on my parent's sofa with a cup of tea and some cheese & biscuits.

Later: I think it is good that Mr. Clarke offered to meet some survivors, but the point of yesterday for me was to say that it wasn't really behind-closed-doors private meetings and narratives that were appropriate, it is about asking and answering people's questions in public. If we get the Kings Cross United meeting with Mr. Clarke in the diary, that is what I will say to him: this is about more than the people who were on the train, we're just a random section of the public, this is about everybody. The questions and the answers and the debate should be opened up to all of us.