'It was just a normal day, although there were a couple of reasons to be fairly cheerful that morning. We'd found out the day before that London had been selected to host the 2012 Olympics, and the sun was shining. In fact, it was one of those mornings that make you glad you do live in England. The birds were singing heartily, the sky was that deep blue and I was looking forward to what promised to be a fairly decent summer.

It was coming up to 8.50am and I was on a train at Edgware Road tube station. I was late (again), but it didn't matter. Nothing, I thought, could spoil my good mood that morning. All of a sudden it felt like the earth moved. There was a loud bang, and our train shook furiously. In orderly panic (we were told over the public address system that there had been a power surge), we evacuated. When we hit the surface, there were no signs of the horror that was unfolding below - and elsewhere around London.

The train network, of course, had completely shutdown, and I never did get to work that day (In fact, it was over a week before I plucked up the courage to get back on a train and make the journey in). I remember making a phone call to work to explain the situation, but found soon after that I couldn't get a signal to make further calls. Only later did I discover that the security services were jamming the mobile phone signals in order to thwart any terrorists who might be trying to set-off further bombs by using mobile phone technology.

Anyway, I milled around for awhile, thinking what to do. By this time, I had started to walk aimlessly around, and had moved on from the station. London still seemed normal. There was no sense of panic, although there were many angry commuters around, concerned about how they would get to work. The thing that I find strange when I think back now, was that I saw no immediate signs of the emergency services and heard no sirens. It was if the whole thing was going off somewhere else. I eventually decided to go home, and it was only when I got back, almost an hour after the explosion, that I turned on the TV and began to understand that something much more than a power surge had taken place. It was only then that I realised how lucky I had been. While we were hitting the exits and complaining about the state of the train network, six people in a train carriage near to us had lost (or were about to lose) their lives.

We soon discovered that three bombs had gone off within less than a minute on three trains on the underground network. And, almost an hour after those explosions, a bomb was detonated on a bus in Taverstock Square. 52 people lost their lives in these terrorist atrocities, and 700 were injured. We thought that London would never be the same again. The media was soon full of dire predictions of further attacks, and, just 2 weeks later, four other young men tried to set off bombs on four more London trains. Fortunately, the bombs themselves malfunctioned, and there were no serious injuries.

Overnight the mood changed, as many of us refused to leave our homes in fear for our lives. There were terrorists on our doorstep, and no-one was safe. In time, of course, we recovered our composure. Despite many more bomb alerts and a heavy police presence around London, and particularly at train stations, London soon returned to normal. Like our American friends after September 11th, we went about our business as usual.

When I look back, however, to those tragic events three years ago, one thing now strikes me. We were worried then about our future safety. We were concerned that we would become the innocent victims of terrorist plots. As it turned out, the security services have done a truly magnificent job in foiling a number of planned attacks, but the immediate danger to us now (and our loved ones) comes not from terrorist attack, but from muggers, thieves and violent offenders. No less than eighteen teenagers have been killed in London this year in knife attacks alone. Countless Londoners have been held up at knife-point and mugged or robbed. I feel as frightened today as I did three years ago, immediately after those bombs went off.

As we show our respect to those who died (and performed heroic deeds) on 7/7, we need to acknowledge that more than lives were lost that day. London lost its sense of security as, over the next three years, our City has degenerated into a place where many are not only frightened to go out after-dark, but where some are even scared as they sit in their own homes. Londoners rallied around the flag following the terrible events of 7/7. We should acknowledge that we are in just as dark times today, and should join together and demand that we get tougher on those who seek to destroy our values and drag down our great City. As we show our respect for those who lost their lives three years ago, our thoughts should also turn those who show no respect for the lives of others and the values we still hold dear. God bless us and all those we care about'.

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