As Britain held a minute’s silence to mark 20 years since the 7/7 bombings—the country’s worst-ever terrorist attack—Foreign Secretary David Lammy was photographed in Damascus shaking hands with a man who once fought for al-Qaeda, the very terror group behind the London attacks.
The timing of Lammy’s visit with Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s de facto ruler and former al-Qaeda commander, has sparked national outrage and accusations of betrayal, particularly from victims’ families and anti-terror campaigners. Many are calling it “a disgraceful insult to the memory of the dead.”
A Moment of Mourning, a Gesture of Betrayal
The July 7, 2005 attacks killed 52 people and injured over 700 in coordinated suicide bombings on London’s transport system. Lammy, then a backbench MP, lost a personal friend in the blasts and has long spoken about the emotional impact of that day.
This year, Lammy posted a solemn tweet:
“20 years on from 7/7, I remember my friend James Adams and all those who were murdered. We carry their memory with us every day.”
Just hours earlier, however, he had embraced Ahmed al-Sharaa—formerly Abu Mohammad al-Jolani—a man who fought alongside al-Qaeda in Iraq, founded its Syrian branch (Jabhat al-Nusra), and led Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) through years of jihadist insurgency.
HTS remains a proscribed terrorist group in the UK, the same designation al-Qaeda holds. Sharaa himself was active in al-Qaeda during the time of the 7/7 bombings.
“You cannot mourn victims of al-Qaeda in the morning and shake hands with its alumni by afternoon,” said one 7/7 survivor. “Lammy has dishonoured every name on the memorial.”
Sanctioned Protesters at Home, Sanctioned Militants Abroad
The hypocrisy is sharpened by events in Westminster. On the same day Lammy met Sharaa, 29 peaceful protesters were arrested in Parliament Square for expressing solidarity with Palestine Action, a non-violent direct action group that was proscribed as a terrorist organization by the UK government last week.
Critics point out that while a former jihadist leader responsible for sectarian massacres now receives UK aid and diplomatic respect, British citizens protesting the arms trade are being dragged away in handcuffs.
“This government has turned anti-terror law into a weapon of political convenience,” said one human rights lawyer. “Lammy criminalizes dissent at home while legitimizing terror abroad.”
HTS and the Al-Qaeda Legacy
Ahmed al-Sharaa’s militant pedigree is indisputable:
- He served in the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), precursor to ISIS.
- He founded Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s official Syrian affiliate.
- He led HTS, which only broke ties with al-Qaeda formally in 2016.
- In March this year, forces under his command massacred 1,500 Alawite civilians in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Despite this, Lammy’s visit to Damascus comes amid a broader Western rehabilitation campaign. France hosted Sharaa at the Élysée Palace in May. And just hours before the UK’s 7/7 commemoration, the U.S. officially revoked HTS’s terrorist designation, with President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio declaring the group part of a “new vision” for Syria.
Lammy has yet to comment on whether the UK will follow suit.
‘Get Their Names Out of Your Mouth’
The juxtaposition of Lammy’s commemorative post and the diplomatic photo-op with Sharaa has triggered visceral reactions online and off.
“You’ve literally just shaken hands with someone linked to the perpetrators of that strike. Get their names out of your mouth,” read one viral post.
The decision to time the Damascus visit for the anniversary week of 7/7 has been described as either spectacularly tone-deaf or intentionally provocative.
“It’s a slap in the face to every survivor,” said a spokesperson from a London-based terror victims’ group. “You don’t honour the dead by empowering their ideological cousins.”
Performative Remembrance and Moral Collapse
For critics, Lammy’s diplomacy highlights a deeper rot in British foreign policy under Keir Starmer’s Labour government: a performative commitment to values that evaporates the moment strategic opportunity arises.
Al-Sharaa’s government has yet to hold elections, continues to suppress dissent, and replaces state institutions with clerical authority. Yet Lammy praised the regime’s “transitional potential” and signed off on a £94.5 million UK aid package to support its reconstruction.
“Democracy is now a euphemism for aligning with our interests,” one analyst said. “This isn’t diplomacy. It’s bureaucratic complicity.”
Lammy’s Legacy, the Nation’s Shame
Twenty years ago, Britain vowed never to appease terrorism. Today, its top diplomat has granted legitimacy to a former al-Qaeda commander on the very anniversary of al-Qaeda’s deadliest attack on UK soil.
David Lammy may have intended to project pragmatism and geopolitical maturity. Instead, he has disgraced the memory of the 7/7 dead, desecrated the solemnity of remembrance, and exposed a government whose moral compass spins with the winds of power.
Terrorism, it seems, is now a matter of branding—and grief, a matter of optics.
