Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Terry Waite thinks it would be a good idea to invite the families of the perpetrators to the memorial service for the July 7 victims. Ken Livingstone concurs:
The former Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy suggested that close relatives of the four suicide bombers should sit alongside the families of the 52 victims at the special service in St Paul's Cathedral.
His comments were echoed by Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor, who said that it would be "offensive" if relatives of the bombers were turned away from the service on Nov 1.
Mr Waite, who was held hostage in Beirut from 1987 to 1991, said in an interview on BBC Radio 2: "The parents definitely should be involved in the service because in a different way they are victims themselves."...
Yes, a very different way. I would sincerely doubt that it's a usual thing for a murderer's family to attend the victim's memorial service. Doesn't seem appropriate does it? Seems it would cause a lot of stress for various reasons and that the families of the perps, if they were truly remorseful, would want that as the last thing they would want to do. In fact, it strikes me as rather cruel to "put it on them" (the families of the victims) to accept the perpetrators loved ones there if they didn't want them.
There is some sense out there, however:
Brian Coleman, the Tory deputy chairman of the London Assembly, labelled the idea of bombers' families attending as "political correctness gone mad".
