Terror threat greater than 20years ago

TWENTY years ago tomorrow, a split-second decision saved London City worker Sajda Mughal's life on a chilling day of horror that rocked Britain

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She was late getting to her local Piccadilly line Tube platform and instead of heading to the first carriage as usual she hopped onto a different one. Seconds after the train left King's Cross for Russell Square, it was rocked by the biggest explosion Sajda had ever heard. And it was to change her life for ever.

Because in the aftermath brave Sajda, who is a Muslim, immediately decided to quit her job and dedicate her life to fighting extremism. It won her an OBE from the King in 2015 for her tireless work.

She set up the world's first online extremism programme working with mothers to educate and prevent young Muslims from being radicalised. She toured schools doing workshops for more than 25,000 children and has worked with families whose radicalised children fled to Syria to join IS.

But now 20 years on from that dreadful day - in which four suicide attacks on London's transport network killed 52 people and injured 770 - mum-of-three Sajda, 42, believes Britain's terror threat "is in a worse place than we were 20 years ago". She blasts Prevent - a national programme aimed at stopping people becoming terrorists that she once worked on - as being "barely fit for purpose" and slams politicians for not doing enough to stem the terror threat.

And she believes this may be why she's even been snubbed by government officials organising tomorrow's official 20-year commemoration service at London's St Paul's Cathedral for all 7/7 survivors.

"It's shocking," she says. "I may have been critical of Prevent. But I am still a 7/7 survivor. It shouldn't matter."

Instead tomorrow, she will reflect on all those who died and their families and the luck that saw her survive that day on the Piccadilly line where 26 were killed.