Lindsay Razaq: As campaigning resumes, let’s not forget the bombing victims

MONDAY was among our nation’s darkest days.

As a journalist, I’m unfortunately well-versed when it comes to writing about tragedy.

But rhetoric can’t really do justice to the horror and sadness I felt in the aftermath of the evil attack.

As an expectant mother, one of my immediate thoughts was: “What kind of world am I bringing a baby into?”

Of course as the images of humanity, defiance and solidarity replaced those of terror, I remembered exactly what kind of world it is.

And that gave me hope, but I’m still fighting a sense of depression. For as we keep vowing to never let the terrorists win, these attacks continue.

So we owe it to the victims and their families to do more than simply say this over and over again.

They deserve more than words, although indeed there are no easy answers.

Inevitably, as campaigning in the general election resumes – a little too hastily in my view – discussion has already turned to the policy implications and the impact of the bombing on the contest.

Clearly no leader would want to be in this situation. Nobody wants to contemplate such an atrocity.

But political strategists will always respond to events, as we’ve seen throughout history and in recent days.

Yes, the country needed to see the Prime Minister step up at a time of crisis – that’s her job.

The merit and effectiveness of deploying soldiers on our streets, a move that surely plays into the terrorists’ hands, is less obvious, however, and unsurprisingly prompted claims of electioneering.

Remember that in the days before the bombing, Theresa May had her worst moment of the campaign so far – the social care U-turn.

Far from “strong and stable”, in backtracking while trying to insist nothing had changed, she looked “weak and wobbly”, as one broadcaster put it.

Moreover, the Tories see defence and security as Jeremy Corbyn’s Achilles’ heel, a fact not lost on the Labour leader.

In his first speech back on the campaign trail, he chose not to focus on that U-turn, but to link the terror threat to wars abroad.

Foreign policy would change under his government to one that “reduces rather than increases the threat”, he insisted. Cue similar accusations of exploiting events.

The least subtle offender by far, however, was Ukip’s Suzanne Evans who suggested Mrs May “must bear some responsibility” for Manchester.

My initial instinct was the situation would shore up support for the Tories. But the first poll since the attack – while revealing an improvement in the Prime Minister’s personal favourability rating – showed the Conservative lead cut to five points.

What’s more, worryingly for Mrs May, she’ll now be dogged by criticisms around police and security service funding.

That said, there’s still around a fortnight to go and a lot can happen.

In that time, as the race enters its final lap, let’s hope the faces of the children as young as eight – killed by such despicable wickedness – remain at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

You don’t have to be a football fan to understand the rivalry between Manchester United and Manchester City.

But the clubs joined forces in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, pledging £1 million to the victims.

Particularly poignant was the image shared by Manchester City of both club logos with the slogan “A City United”.

It really summed up the spirit of coming together evident in the city and across the country over the last couple of days.

I was also pleased to see United secure victory in the Europa League.

As one pundit reminded us, it was “only a football match” and certainly nothing can ease the pain of those enduring the loss of a loved one. But it afforded the city a brief moment of respite amid the trauma.