Published: Monday, 5th June 2017

Faith and community leaders met Council leaders to condemn London Bridge attack.

Following the meeting at the Town Hall on Monday 5 June, a statement was released by local community and faith leaders from across the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

As local community and faith leaders we all stand together to remember the victims, their families and friends of London Bridge, Westminster and Manchester, as well as other recent atrocities. In doing so we wish to reaffirm our belief in the values that we hold dear in our democracy and to thank our emergency services for the way in which they responded and continue to work tirelessly to keep us all safe.

Since Saturday night, the spirit of Londoners has been there for all to see here in Greenwich, as it has indeed across the capital as a whole. This is our city and we will never be cowed by the actions of a few cowards who have failed in their attempts to divide us.

We condemn this latest act of terrorism which resulted in the death and injury of yet more innocent victims. We deplore the mindless actions of a few individuals which have nothing to do with the religion they claimed to follow and whose actions in Ramadan show that they neither respect life nor faith.

We stand side by side with true Muslims and call upon our community to stay united in the face of these outrageous and cowardly attacks to ensure there is no backlash. Together, we say enough is enough with one voice regardless of our faith or nationality.

Greenwich itself has sadly suffered at the hands of terrorists in recent years. Our determination to remain united as a community resulted in an act that was meant to divide us actually bringing us closer together. We took solace and comfort in the support that we received from others at that time. That is why we are sending a strong message to the people affected by these barbaric acts that our thoughts and prayers are with you and that we stand with you in solidarity.