Charles Clarke provoked anger among Islamic leaders and families of the victims of the London bombings today when he confirmed that there would be no public inquiry to investigate the atrocity.

The Home Secretary said that an independent inquiry into the July 7 attacks was not suitable, because the bombings were still the subject of a police investigation. What's more, an inquiry would offer a "distraction" from future terrorist threats and take too long to report, Mr Clarke said.

Instead, a senior civil servant will compile a "narrative" describing the bombings, using evidence already collected by the police, the security services and two House of Commons select committees.

Mr Clarke was immediately invited to change his mind. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said an inquiry was essential to explore the wider causes of the bombings, including the role of the Iraq war and the alienation of young British Muslims in motivating the four suicide bombers who blew themselves up on London's transport system.

"The Muslim working groups set up by Home Office in the aftermath of July 7 said they believed that the Iraq war was a ‘key contributory factor’ in the radicalisation occurring in some young Muslims," said Sir Iqbal.

"A public inquiry would be able to ascertain if this was indeed the case. We believe it is in our country’s wider interest to hold a public inquiry and we call on the Government to think again on this crucial matter."

Relatives of the 52 people who died in the attacks also criticised the decision, as opposition MPs called for an inquiry to investigate the intelligence failures which preceded the bombings and possible links to the failed attacks of July 21.

Saba Mozakka, whose mother Behnaz died in the Piccadilly Line blast, said that it was "unacceptable" not to hold a public inquiry.

"This is not acceptable to us and the families will be campaigning for there to be a full public inquiry," she said. "A narrative of events will not satisfy anybody. This is not something we will go away on."

The Shadow Homeland Affairs Minister Patrick Mercer said: "We want an inquiry independent of government. That independent inquiry should ask questions about the surveillance of the suspects before the attack, the lowering of the level of alert five weeks before the attack, and links between home-grown and international terrorists."

"In addition, it should examine any links between the perpetrators of the July 7 attack and the perpetrators of the attempted attack on July 21."

Earlier, Mr Clarke outlined three reasons why he believed a public inquiry should not be held.

"We are involved in a murder investigation, that is a very active investigation," he said. "Secondly, we are looking at potential future threats... and that is a very important thing not to be distracted from. Thirdly, the time factor. I have always been a sceptic... of the length of time that inquiries of this kind do actually take and the distraction which they offer.

"The question is, can we get an account of what actually happened for and around July 7 in a way that deals with all the vast speculations there have been in a whole series of different areas? And I think that it is the first way to address it," Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Certainly there is no question of a cover up of any kind."

Mr Clarke believes an independent inquiry could jeopardise the ongoing investigation into the lives and possible accomplices of the four men - Shehzad Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Hasib Hussain - who carried out the bombings. Launched immediately after the attacks, Britain's largest murder hunt has yet to make an arrest.

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