INTELLIGENCE failures led to the London bombings and lessons have still not been learned, a former Government intelligence analyst said today.
Crispin Black said the UK should open itself to "pitiless" scrutiny in the form of a public inquiry in order to prevent another attack.
One of the initial causes of the July 7 bombings was that the Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre gave advice which led to the reduction of the threat level just before the attack, he said.
The centre said there was no group "at present" with both the intent and the capability to attack the UK, added Mr Black.
Four suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured hundreds when they attacked central London.
Ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, lived in Thornhill Lees, while another of the bombers was former Rawthorpe High School student Jermaine Lindsay, 19.
Mr Black, who has just written a book on the attack, said the intelligence assessment led to a range of failures.
It is now known that Saudi Arabia had warned of a plot against London and France also had intelligence, he continued.
There also seemed to have been no precautionary measures, despite the fact that Britain was hosting the G8 summit and had just won the 2012 Olympic bid, he said.
Mr Black called for a public inquiry, saying terrorists were ruthless, so "we need to be ruthless".
He added: "I think we need a public inquiry. I think the only way we learn the full lessons are if we learn them from a pitiless gaze. I think there could be worse to come unless we learn all the lessons quickly and openly and together."
