The London terror attacks last Wednesday left many all over the world shocked and scared but life for Londoners seems to continue normally despite the deadliest terror attack on London since the 7/7 bombings in 2005.
On 22nd May 2017 a terrifying terror attack on Westminster that killed 5 people, including brave PC Keith Palmer, and injured 50 more, broke the news and left many reeling from the tragic events of that day. Almost immediately the hash tag ‘Pray for London’ began circulating around social media sites as Londoners and foreigners alike tried to make sense of what had just occurred.
But one week on and we Londoners seem to be emulating the motivational poster ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, first produced by the British government in 1939 to raise the morale of the British public in preparation for the Second World War. Although, the events of last Wednesday still remain firmly fixed in everyone’s minds, life has carried on as normal just as life carried on after the Paris attacks, the Nice attack and the Berlin attack – it is just our way of coping with what happened.
Yet motivational messages on the Service Information boards in London Tube Stations following the attack also remind the public to stay strong with their messages of hope and defiance. Some include: “The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of them all” (Tower Hill Tube Station), or “Side by side we stand together” (Tottenham Court Road Tube Station).
These show the determination of Londoners to carry on with their lives despite everything because we will all drink tea and jolly well carry on.
By Giorgia Merighi Francis Holland School SW1
