There is no doubt that the families of the four bombers suffered losses on July 7. From what we are led to believe they were unaware that their sons and brothers had become dangerously indoctrinated to the point of taking the lives of innocent people in the belief that it would provide them with a passage to paradise. The mother of Hasib Hussain, the Tavistock Square bus bomber, rang the police on the evening of July 7 in the belief that her son had been a victim of the terrorist outrages, not a perpetrator. “Like the innocent victims of the bombings whose families are grieving, these families are in a similar state of loss,” said Sir Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain. Reconciliation has a part to play in healing wounds, as has been demonstrated in Northern Ireland and South Africa.

But this is much too soon, however well meaning the bishops. The grief and anger of the victims’ families are still raw. “To have them there would be outrageous,” said John Taylor, whose daughter Carrie was killed on July 7. It would be seen as the equivalent of inviting a murderer’s family to the victim’s funeral. The families of the victims have suffered enough and this would compound their pain. The idea should be quietly dropped.