WTC - support

[Guest guest]

Hi gang,

I thought you might like some more information on the British reaction to

this terrible tragedy.

Last Thursday, as already mentioned, at the Changing of the Guard ceremony

at Buckingham Palace your National Anthem was played, I believe at the

special request of the Queen.

On Thursday evening a programme called " Question Time " was televised. This is

a programme where the audience ask a panel of four people various topical,

mostly political, questions. The panel always includes a couple of

politicians. Usually, you have to get tickets weeks in advance, and the

programme itself is televised about two hours after recording. Well last

week, because of the tragedy, the BBC advertised for an audience at short

notice through the Internet and the programme went out live. The panel

included former US ambassador, Phil Lader. I didn't see it myself but

evidently it was very anti-American and Mr. Lader was visibly upset. The BBC

received many hundreds of complaints and had to apologise. This programme

most definitely did NOT reflect the views of the British people. One

newspaper headline said " How the BBC shamed Britain. "

On Friday at the memorial service in St. s Cathedral, London, the Queen

sang the words of your National Anthem. She has never done this before to any

other country's anthem. Our Queen, usually so composed, wept. The Cathedral

was packed with 2,700 people and another 8,000 listened on loudspeakers

outside on Ludgate Hill.

On Friday at 1100, thousands of people all over the UK maintained a three

minute silence. Huge crowds attended many memorial services throughout the

UK, city centres, schools, work places everywhere fell silent as people stood

quietly.

The mother of one of my colleagues does the flowers for her local church. On

Friday at about 1045 she entered the usually (nearly) empty church and found

many people there. They just sat with their own thoughts. I imagine this

probably happened right across the UK.

At work, those that wanted to stood outside at 1100, I stayed at my desk and

found my own silence. For three minutes we managed to maintain radio silence

and just one 999 phone call interrupted it. Doctors and hospitals who would

usually be ringing us were maintaining their own silence.

We have had our own terrorist atrocities over here, although nothing on this

scale, but the response to this tragedy is unprecedented. The whole of the UK

has you(r people) uppermost in our thoughts.

Take care.

Hampshire Ambulance Service, UK