Last night people would have dropped their kids off at Manchester Arena for the Ariana Grande concert. The kids would have been so excited. In the normal course of events, they’d have come out afterwards completely buzzing about the whole thing and would have spent hours reliving it and singing the songs.
They will certainly never forget the awful events of last night.
It is utterly impossible to comprehend what goes through the mind of someone who targets children and young people in this way.
One of my friends wrote on Facebook that we should think about what the terrorists want us to do – and then do the exact opposite.
They want us to turn on each other and change our lives to pander to them or fear of them. We can’t let them diminish us like that.
And in fact, we can see from the acts of kindness and solidarity from the people of Manchester that the generous, open-hearted spirit of that wonderful city will prevail.
Our hearts go out to all those who have lost loved ones, or who are going through the raw anxiety of not being able to track someone down, or who are waiting for news of an injured friend or relative.
All of us need to think about what we can do to make the world kinder, more open and gentle – and then go and do it.
Senior Liberal Democrats have been reacting to last night’s attack. Tim Farron said:
This is a shocking and horrific attack targeting children and young people who were simply enjoying a concert.
My deepest sympathies are with the victims, and with families who have lost loved ones, as well as those desperately waiting for news.
I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of the emergency services.
This is an attack on innocent people and the nation is united both in its grief and its determination to stand up to this deplorable attack.
Willie Rennie said:
I am horrified by the deaths and injuries in Manchester.
My deepest sympathies are with the victims, and with families who have lost loved ones, as well as those desperately waiting for news.
As a sign of respect, all General Election campaigning has been suspended.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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7 Comments
With respect, Caron, this shouldn’t be about, “How Liberal Democrats react to Manchester bombing”…It should be, as shown by the Jo Cox remembrance, about how “All of us, from whichever party, come together”….
Expats – give Caron a break. Of course she wants people to come together. She even says so explicitly. But this is a lib dem blog and a lot of us come here to see what lib dems are saying about things.
Well said Helen.
These things hit us hard. How your loved one can be killed because they went to a pop concert. Life is so precious, but terrorists treat it like it’s nothing.
A moving piece. Thank you for writing.
A good piece and there is little enough that is good in the world at the moment.
“It is utterly impossible to comprehend what goes through the mind of someone who targets children and young people in this way.”
Very difficult, I agree. But unless and until we can comprehend it and indeed find explanations for it, we will not do what is needed to prevent it happening again (and again).
Caron is attempting to speak for a site that seeks to debate for a party. These are as it should be. What I think we need is more togetherness in our democracy and less divisiveness. Jo Cox a year ago , young kids today. And so the noise of squabbling in between and ever amongst people who are fellows of our country , democracy and world. Mrs May said it herself some weeks ago, we need the values of liberal democracy. We are all freedom loving citizens of what some of us have never been scared of saying , we consider to be amongst , or the , finest country in the world. We must try and understand why these things happen, but also understand why the political divide in a mainly rather moderate country like this one , is overblown and exaggerated by some sometimes. We must argue often and agree more often than ever, that arguing is not all that productive. We are in the very centre of activity that goes beyond party anything, it is liberal democracy we can and must celebrate and promote , whether we adhere to the party of Liberal Democrats or another.
These terror attacks always affirm that we need to stand together in kindness and solidarity. The world is a dangerous and scary place, cliché as it sounds, but we have the capacity to help in many ways. Small gestures like this go a long way.