Bomber Was MP's Guest At Parliament

Bomber was MP's guest at Parliament

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20:00pm 15th July 2005

One of the London suicide bombers was strolling the corridors of the House of Commons just a year before he blew himself up, it emerged.

In an extraordinary twist which sent shockwaves through Westminster it was revealed that Mohammad Sidique Khan attended Parliament as the guest of a Labour MP.

Khan, 30, who killed himself and six innocent commuters on a Tube train near Edgware Road, met Labour MP Jon Trickett in July 2004.

He was invited in his capacity as a learning mentor at Hillside Primary School in Beeston, Leeds, where Mr Trickett's wife Sarah is headteacher. Mr Trickett said: "I was shocked to learn that someone who had grown up in the area of Beeston where I lived and which I represented on Leeds City Council for 12 years should turn out to be one of the London bombers."

On his visit Khan even met Cabinet Minister Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary. Mr Benn met Khan in Portcullis House - where many MPs have their offices - and talked about his role as the school's local MP. He then answered questions from the children who were with Khan. The bomber then rubbed shoulders with unsuspecting politicians on a tour of the Palace of Westminster with Mr Trickett.

His visit came weeks after an urgent security review was launched in the wake of a flour bomb attack by Fathers 4 Justice on Tony Blair during Prime Minister's Questions.

Mr Trickett's local Labour Party office said that the whole group was fully security screened when they entered Portcullis House and was accompanied at all times by the Hemsworth MP throughout the visit to the Palace of Westminster. The group was brought to London by Mrs Trickett and also visited major London attractions including the London Eye and St James's Park.

It was also revealed that Khan had visited Mr Trickett at home and that the MP's son was in the same school year group as Khan 17 years ago.

Mr Trickett lived in Beeston, Leeds, until he became an MP in 1996. He said: "Many years after leaving, I met Mr Khan in July 2004 when he accompanied a school trip to London during which time they briefly visited Portcullis House for a sandwich and met with their local MP. It is profoundly disturbing to discover that a person, who appeared to care so deeply for the children at that time, should so callously take the lives of others only a year later."

The Labour Party said that as soon as the MP realised Khan was one of the London suicide bombers, he informed the chief superintendent in charge of Commons Security.