What sets tragedies apart from almost every other aspect of life is their ability to unify on a mass scale. Times of grief, such as the awful events we have seen in our city of Nottingham this week, bring us together in a way that even periods of mass celebration can often struggle to match.
Following the abhorrent deaths of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates this week, the greatest example of the way in which it has unified Nottingham came in the form of the Old Market Square vigil on Thursday night. Leaders from all faiths, people of all occupations, students from both universities - everybody came together to show support for the three families who so bravely and movingly spoke about their fallen loved ones.
As the family, friends and colleagues of Barnaby, Grace and Ian continue to reel from their loss, many of us across Nottinghamshire are struggling to grapple with how such horror could have unfolded in our home city. It's this feeling, coupled with the unbearable loss suffered by those who knew and loved the three victims, that sparks a desire for any possible lessons to be quickly learned.
Leave your messages of condolence for the three people who lost their lives in the tragic Nottingham attacks here.
Who better to turn to for those lessons than the families themselves? During Thursday night's vigil, the biggest round of applause came when the mother of Barnaby Webber urged the crowd: "Please hold no hate that relates to any colour, sex or religion."
This general theme of the need for a less hateful and nasty world is one that has been frequently expressed by the affected families across the week, and it's a message we always hear in the wake of tragedies on this scale. It's a message which can be applied to every single area of our lives.
But given that this week also marks the anniversary of another national horror, the murder of the Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox in 2016, I wanted to take a moment to consider how this can be applied to the area of public life which can often be the source of the most hatred - politics. Politics in recent years has become increasingly toxic, but what we have seen from our politicians in the wake of this week's tragedy is the exact opposite.
At the local level, our leaders represented our county and city with great dignity as the national spotlight shone on us. Nottinghamshire's eleven MPs all issued statements on Tuesday expressing their shock and disgrace at what had unfolded.
On Tuesday evening, Nottingham's three MPs attended the St Peter's Church vigil and they remained a unified trio in the House of Commons the following day. All those attending the traditionally rancorous Prime Minister's Questions fell silent to hear Lilian Greenwood speak with visible devastation about the previous day's events.
Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith were among those making emotional contributions in the chamber later that day, with both men having been born in Nottinghamshire and both still being proud to call it their home. Nadia Whittome, Mark Spencer and Tom Randall are also among our MPs who were born here and continue to live here.
At Thursday's vigil, Alex Norris summed up the mood when he said: "We, like everyone I think here, are not used to waking up to see such devastating news about our city, the place we all love so much, leading the news for all the wrong reasons."
David Mellen, the Leader of Nottingham City Council, led a touching gesture ahead of a minute's silence when he said to the crowd: "You might be standing with loved ones, you might be standing with people you don't know at all. I just want you, just for a couple of minutes, to say hello to the people around you, to wish them well, to join together as we mourn this awful tragedy this week."
Ben Bradley spoke after the vigil about how becoming a parent means that he is now brought to tears by the "slightest mention of a hurt child" and as a former Nottingham Trent University student, he reflected on how this week's tragedy is one that could have so easily befallen his own family.
At the national level, Home Secretary Suella Braverman was visibly moved as she laid flowers at the Council House steps on Thursday. Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and even Emmanuel Macron were among the worldwide political figures of all parties sending their condolences to Nottingham.
All of the above examples are a demonstration that this week has brought home the human nature of our politicians. This country is rightly admired around the world for the high standards we expect from our politicians and the robust manner in which we hold them to account, particularly when we see those standards slipping.
Politics is a passionate business and the vastly different experiences on which our MPs and councillors draw means fierce disagreements are inevitable. Indeed, they are to be welcomed in a nation of free speech and democracy such as ours.
But as social media becomes increasingly anti-social and as the vast array of problems facing the country's most vulnerable remain, it is becoming too easy for fierce disagreements to stray too far from the kindler, gentler politics that was rightly demanded in the wake of Jo Cox's murder. It's a lesson that has been too easy to forget in the wake of that 2016 tragedy, and indeed in the wake of Sir David Amess' brutal killing in 2021.
A kinder politics doesn't mean the expectations we have of our politicians should diminish in the slightest. But it must surely be possible to scrutinise, criticise and even call for the resignation of our representatives without descending into hatred?
The one thing we have all taken comfort from in this horrific week has been the theme of unity and to continue fostering it for the years ahead, one focus of our attention must be on the arena in which that unity can be the hardest to find. It has taken an extraordinary level of bravery and courage for the families of Barnaby, Grace and Ian to speak this week, the very least we can do is heed their words.
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