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The Guardian view on defending democracy: avoid the politics | Editorial

Theresa May talks with Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Ian Hopkins.
Theresa May and Chief Constable Ian Hopkins. ‘The crisis has allowed Mrs May, after a dire week, to restate her credentials as a strong leader’. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

We are heading into a general election that may be one of the most consequential of our lifetimes: one that will mandate the reshaping of the state, allow new treaties to be drawn up with our nearest neighbours, and perhaps even end with national borders redrawn. Yet it is entirely understandable that the election campaign was suspended. The awful cold-blooded murder of innocent men, women and children means this is not the time for partisan politics. Every one of the lives lost is a tragedy. The consequences of the loss for each family will be difficult and painful to bear. What to say to the children who went to a pop concert and left to find their waiting parents blown apart by the hate and callous indifference in the foyer? What about the police officers involved in a manhunt for terrorists, who wake up to find out that one of their own has been killed by a bomber? It is in these stories that we as a nation will share grievance and, perhaps, the urge to avenge. It is these instincts that need to be led and shaped. If they are left unchecked, if private reason is allowed to become supreme, if each is left to judge for themselves what is right, then we will be left with the chaos of conflicting claims. That is why we need not politics but leadership.

When terror struck, Theresa May correctly halted the election campaign. She has rightly consulted regularly with the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. But the crisis has allowed Mrs May, after a dire week, to restate her credentials as a strong leader. She has commanded the airwaves, personally appearing to raise the terror threat to critical – an announcement usually reserved for the home secretary. Terrorism is familiar territory for Mrs May, who displays an ease with the language of security and a fluency with the subject that sometimes seems lacking in other policy areas. Although the campaign will resume locally tomorrow, and nationally on Friday, Mrs May will be off to a series of summits: first Nato and then the G7, where although she is not formally campaigning she will be able to give interviews about defence and counter-terrorism. Mrs May has done nothing wrong. But to some she has given the impression that a moment of national crisis has worked to her advantage. Britain was the first country in the world to make opposition part of government, in the sense that better decisions were made by bridging differences. Mrs May could have followed the example of her predecessor John Major, who, in another time dealing with the tragic killings of children, took the welcome step of inviting his opponent, Tony Blair, for a joint visit to the shattered community of Dunblane. This should have set a precedent to put aside politics in the name of national unity. Mrs May could have shared a stage with Labour as her ministers have done. She would have strengthened her claim to national leadership by inviting Mr Corbyn to visit Manchester with her, to show that there were times – even in a fiercely fought election – when national leadership mattered more than party politics.

This is a missed opportunity, and does not bode well for the fortnight ahead before voting begins. We now have heavily armed soldiers on our streets. On the last two occasions this lasted no more than a few days. We hope the soldiers return to their barracks before the polling stations open. Terrorism seems a forever war. This suicide bomber was part of a network of individuals – motivated by extremist ideology and prepared to use deadly violence to further it. Bombers need bombs, which need bomb-makers. The next few days are likely to be punctuated by arrests and police sweeps. Politicians will need to exercise restraint. Leadership is about educating the public that counter-terrorism in a democracy is not a spectator sport. It is not about ratcheting up security measures, or giving vent to revenge to shore up an image of toughness. It is about allowing people to have their say on issues of war and peace, not just at the outset but continuously.