Families demand a review of spy agencies’ entire operation

Recording her verdict, coroner Lady Justice Hallett paid tribute to the “quiet dignity” of the families of the innocent victims who have had to relive the loss of loved ones during the inquest proceedings.

But after the coroner released her findings, some families made renewed calls for a public inquiry into the attacks and many highlighted questions about whether MI5 could have prevented the atrocities if it had followed up the clues it held about the terrorists.

Graham Foulkes, whose 22-year-old son David was killed at Edgware Road, said his attitude to MI5 would be different if they had approached the families in 2005, admitted they made a bad judgment and apologised.

But instead the inquest “causes a lot more questions to be asked than it answers”, he said.

“It really must compel Theresa May to review the whole operation of the Security Services in the UK, not just MI5.”

Mr Foulkes called for an independent inquiry with “a much broader scope and a much broader remit” than the inquest.

He added he was concerned there was no “single overarching authority to knock heads together and make sure something happens” and the coroner’s recommendations are implemented.

“That’s a great concern for me,” he said.

The recommendations were “very serious, very wide-ranging and they really need implementing”, he said.

“Theresa May should have the whole country looking at her to make sure that something happens.”

Marie Fatayi-Williams, whose 26-year-old son Anthony died in the bombing on the number 30 bus, said only a public inquiry could address the concerns.

“For me, these are the issues that still need to be known – what did MI5 know before and how has it come to light or not come to light?” she said.

“This is not the end; it’s just the beginning.”

John Taylor, whose daughter Carrie, 24, was killed in the Aldgate bombing, also called for the recommendations to be taken seriously.

“The inquest for us was not about pointing fingers at people specifically,” he said. “Things went wrong and we accept that. We know now that certain procedures never worked properly.”

But Mr Taylor, whose wife June appeared overwhelmed with emotion mid-way through the press conference, accused MI5 of adopting an “arrogant” attitude from the start.

He said the security services approached the inquest “with the mindset that they would not have to give evidence”.

“The warning signs were there after 9/11,” he said.

“I feel personally that after one year, a year and a half, two years, we got complacent and I fear that will happen again.

“We must make sure that does not happen.

“(Osama) bin Laden may be dead, but others will come and take his place. Individuals in this country will act on their own initiative.

“We have to be careful about this. Let’s make sure we get it right now.”

Mr Foulkes added that the lack of record-keeping by MI5 was “obviously a recipe for disaster” and said it was “unprecedented” for a senior judge to make such recommendations for the Security Service.

Ros Morley, wife of Edgware Road victim Colin Morley, 52, also singled out the coroner’s concerns about MI5’s record-keeping. “What happened will stay with all of us for the rest of our lives,” she said.

“I personally am very heartened to see that the Security Services’ procedures are going to be looked at.”