BRITISH politicians warned the IRA yesterday that they would not stop the general election after London's transport network was "paralysed" because of a series of coded telephone bomb warnings which left thousands of commuters and holidaymakers stranded during the morning rush hour.
Rail, tube, air, sea and road services were all severely disrupted for several hours as the capital was brought to a virtual standstill while anti terrorist officers evacuated streets and buildings to search for bombs.
Although army bomb disposal experts carried out four controlled explosions, no devices were found. The economic cost of this disruption is estimated to be £20 million, and follows last Friday's IRA bomb attack on rail services in the north of England and alerts on the road network in the Midlands.
The British Prime Minister Mr Major, expressed his "contempt" for the IRA and Sinn Fein before praising the stoicism of those affected by the traffic chaos.
"It is essential to take these warnings seriously. The IRA have murdered in the past. They will not hesitate to murder again if they thought it was in their interests to do so," he said.
After describing the IRA alert as an "outrage," the Labour Leader, Mr Tony Blair, stressed that the British public would not allow the terrorists to disrupt the general election. The Liberal Democrats leader, Mr Paddy Ashdown, said it was a "futile attempt to try and influence" the campaign.
The Metropolitan Police rejected suggestions that the emergency services may have overreacted to the spate of coded bomb warnings to hospitals and shops in London, which began at 6.45 a.m. and lasted for an hour.
London's Assistant Police Commissioner, Mr David Veness, insisted that it was his duty to prevent loss of life and stressed it 5 important not to forget the IRA's previous attacks on the city.
"The police have a clear public duty to warn people about threats to life. We have a duty to protect the public from harm. We should never forget the murder and extensive damage caused in our city centres since the 1970s. At any moment the Provisional IRA could return to the large scale explosions we have seen in the past, he said.
At the height of the alert there were 10 mile traffic jams on routes into London. Motoring organisations described the ensuing congestion on the roads as some of the worst for many years, or ever".
Gatwick and Luton Airports were closed until the early afternoon. All flights were cancelled and 4,000 passengers were forced to spend hours on the runway, unable to leave their planes. Heathrow and Stansted were also affected for a short time. The ferry service from Dover was suspended for an hour before being given the all clear.
Four major rail terminals King's Cross, St Pancras, Paddington and Charing Cross and their Underground stations were all closed for up to five hours and the surrounding buildings and roads were evacuated. The entire Jubilee Underground service was suspended for an hour and Baker Street station was shut for three hours.
Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, refused to condemn the bomb threats and said the party would continue the search for peace in Ireland.
"I am prepared to do more than condemn. I am working night and day for peace in Ireland and I believe the lead of my party and the lead of the SDLP have put us all on course towards a peace settlement," he added.
Passengers arriving from Dublin on a morning Ryanair flight to London had to spend a number of hours on the aircraft or in the arrival Lounge at Gatwick, because of the disruption.