Manchester Arena Incident

sarahellenwhitney: 'These people' are the people who will distort religion to suit their fanatical beliefs and attempt to justify what they do.I could not agree more with what you have said, and this could have applied to so many factions who have killed innocent people - like the Christian crusaders who slashed people to ribbons and carried out atrocities in the name of the 'Prince of Peace'. It has been stated that so many of the bombers are drug takers, and disaffected dregs of society who probably see a 'glorious' death as a triumph - but they surely have rejected the real truth of their religion.

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself this week, but horrible events like really make you get things into prospective don't they? .

I gave my DGD (who has been off school poorly this week) an extra cuddle and thought "to hell with work and tidying the house". My DGD's love to go to concerts and I can't imagine what those poor families are going through.

I totally agree with you HildaW.

Yet, annsixty, Covent Garden had a bit extra police presense today, I was made anxious.

In this case, I can't understand how US media sources (CBS and NBC) have been ahead of the BBC. Last night, they were reporting (correctly) that there were about 20 fatalities, while the BBC was claiming that the police had confirmed nothing. Today, they named the murderer before the BBC did.

See the perpetrator has been named. I hope the powers that be can do all they can to let him pass quickly into obscurity. We need to remember those who suffer and those who help......not the one who committed this atrocity.

As with 9/11, 7/7, other European atrocities, and now Manchester, I can never work out how within less than 24 hours the authorities can name names.

Genuinely perplexed.

ethelwulf - indeed so. And the message that normal peace-loving Muslims want nothing of this needs to be put across loud and clear (I would say more loudly and more clearly); or the "idiots" will take away the message that they want to and the situation will never change at all. People will become more polarised. It is a desperate situation.

I am just back from Manchester. I went to visit Ruby in Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Piccadilly station was operating exactly as normal, no visible increased police presence, the workers and visitors were carrying on as normal. It was so reassuring to see.

It’s so disappointing yet sadly predictable to see reports of a mindless, indiscriminate backlash from certain individuals against Moslems in response to this latest outrage committed by a small number of evil extremists. Our Security Services have had considerable success in recent years in uncovering and neutralizing numerous potential terrorist attacks on the UK mainland, based on detailed intelligence. Do these anti-Moslem idiots seriously believe that such intelligence has been gathered by infiltrating a Christian, blonde, blue-eyed, Anglo-Saxon Daniel Craig 007 lookalike into ISIS, Al Khaida, or other extremist group, all done at phenomenal personal risk of an agonising, protracted death if discovered? Probably.. because they are deeply ignorant. The Moslem Council of Great Britain has immediately and unconditionally condemned the atrocity, and expressed the hope that the guilty parties will receive appropriate punishment “both in this life and the next”. The terrorists are aiming to generate both division and hatred through these barbaric acts. We must resist these aims at all costs, and remain united across all races and creeds within our multi-cultural society, determined to continue to live our daily lives, enjoying those personal freedoms which were so hard-won over the years. We shall overcome…

I'm a Mancunian, devastated at this terrible incident, but so proud of my fellow Mancunians

So sad, unbelievable,my heart goes out to Manchester, and all those involved in this tragedy.RIP

Andyf - I am so pleased that your DGD is safe and well - what a dreadful experience for them.

sunseeker I really don't think it would help. Terrorists have little respect for "ordinary" Muslims.

I've just been on the phone to my daughter. A friend of hers is a junior doctor in A&E at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Last night the friend stayed at work after a full shift to help with the emergency. This morning, after working for 18 hours, she tried to go home, but her flat was in the cordoned off area.

She managed to get to my daughter's flat in the south of the city and is still there, in a state of shock. She had had to deal with dying and mangled bodies. She's supposed to be back at work this evening.

My daughter's friend is a British-born Muslim. If some of the haters on social media (not here) had their way,my daughter's friend would have her religion banned and be deported (not sure where). These people really do have more in common with the people they hate.

Muslim leaders HAVE condemned the attack:

www.mcb.org.uk/manchester-attack-muslim-council-of-britain-statement/

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/manchester-arena-attack-muslim-leaders-condemn-suicide-bombing-ariana-grande-explosion-a7751576.html

I too can see where Luckygirl is coming from, she is not saying ALL Muslims share the guilt just that if the people who follow the real Muslim faith, not the perverted one followed by the terrorists, were more vocal in their condemnation it may prevent some young people being recruited. In my city a young man was convicted of planning to bomb a local shopping centre, he was reported to the police by members of his local Mosque who he tried to recruit to help him.

Wilma the whole world is watching! Evil scum of the earth, only cowards attack little children. The little 8yr old girl has now died if you had not heard.

Well done the people of Manchester for coming forward and offering their help in any way they could!

Luckygirl, I get where you're coming from and whole heartedly agree with your sentiments.
My heart goes out to the 22 killed and all the families whose lives have been changed forever.

The perpetrator of this terrible crime is a coward and a murderer, it may be appropriate to call him a terrorist but he's not a Muslim and IMO he shouldn't be linked to the Muslim faith.

All right minded people are horrified and disgusted at this horrific act and I don't think it's necessary for any particular group or faith to be singled out for their public reaction to it.

An 8 year old girl was killed. This time yesterday she was looking forward to the concert and now she's dead. I cannot find the words to express my own feelings of outrage and horror
and cannot begin to imagine the suffering of those who've lost loved ones.

Luckygirl, you were brave saying that theMuslim leaders had not condemned the barbaric act. How is that rascist. It is humanity. No wonder there are problems if everything is miscobstrued.
I feel that much for those involved in this, there will be all faiths, all young people, we as a nation feel for them all.
You have to keep to a strict criteria on here, just in case your comments are twisted.

Ginny42 my children grew up with the awareness of IRA attacks as we lived in London and attended events in the city; it is so sad that their children will now know of the same kind of terror.

I did hear that people were searched on the way in to the concert but that the doors had been opened ready for people to leave and that is when the attacker got in.

Acts such as this are evil beyond belief.

The kindness of the people of Manchester shines through the wickedness.

for all the victims and their families

dysongirl I think that was varian's point. The Irish are no more responsible for the IRA than Muslims are responsible for terrorism and ISIS.

It is a dreadful, horrifying event and words cannot express the pain and grief that it must have caused. As for the Muslim community expressing condemnation, I am sure that this happens on both a personal and public level but gets little attention from the press. (I don't remember the Catholic or Protestant communities being expected to publicly condemn every outrage committed in their names during the Troubles in Ireland.) Of course, terrorist groups want us to turn on our neighbours and thus drive some of them straight into the arms of the extremists. I know it is hard when everyone is so distressed and angry but we have to keep calm, or we're doing exactly what the terrorists want. It's so frightening, though, when you think how easily it could have been your own grandkids there. Just praying now that the injured survive and the missing are found.

@riverwalk why bring Irish descent into these scumbags who killed innocent people?
I am Irish and I despise what the I.R.A. done
Don't tar all the Irish with the same brush please
Muslims are not all bad don't forget

Whilst instantly agreeing with Varian that we should refrain from political comment as a mark of respect, I have thought deeply about this over the morning as events unfolded and changed my mind.

On a personal level, I had opted not to attend the Launch of the SNP's Manifesto, but thousands of others have travelled from all over Scotland to attend only to find it postponed indefinitely. Therefore the slot on the News to reveal/discuss the Manifesto commitments is lost. I had intended to spend the day delivering letters + leaflets, carefully timed to be delivered on the day that the Postal Voting forms arrive through letter boxes, but of course the letters will remain in my house until after the weekend. Also messages on facebook that 2 Public Meetings and 1 full hustings later this week have been cancelled. This will of course affect all Parties throughout the UK similarly.

I should not have to say, but will anyway to avoid comments, that I am as heart sorrow and distressed for the victims, their families, indeed anyone personally affected by this atrocity as all of us are. BUT - I feel that cancelling all Political Campaigning for this enormously important GE whose result will have far reaching consequences for all of us as individuals and for the Country as a whole is completely the wrong way to go. believe the correct response should have been 'business as usual'. We have allowed either one Glory Seeking Nutter or a carefully planned terrorist attack to strike our democracy at its very heart. If this was indeed a carefully timed, planned atrocity then the 'brains' behind it have succeeded in their aim.