CLIVE SMITH: We're in danger of becoming desensitised to such acts

They don’t seem to come as such a shock any more, which to be honest is pretty sad.

The recent attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester took things to a whole new level though.

Like a lot of people, I woke up to the news and have to say I felt shocked for the rest of the day.

My girls are of the demographic who would be attending such an event and I think that makes it so much more real.

These children had probably been given these tickets as birthday and Christmas presents and been looking forward to the day for months.

Now they and their families have had their worlds turned upside down.

In the aftermath of it all, what really gets me is the politicians who reel off the same soundbites during their press conferences.

It’s just regurgitated words – cowardly, poor victims, brave emergency services, stand together, carry on as usual.

The families affected can’t carry on as usual.

How many deaths do there have to be before someone in power actually admits what the problem is?

Singing John Lennon songs and holding candlelit vigils isn’t going to stop this.

Sharon changing her Facebook profile picture to We Stand With Manchester isn’t going to get the terrorists thinking twice.

Apparently David Beckham said a prayer, as did Katy Perry.

Give me strength.

I bet hearing some celebrity has said a prayer from inside their gated community is really going to lift the spirits of these poor families.

Our children should be safe when they are going to these sort of events.

They shouldn’t have the dark cloud of terrorism hanging over them at a time when they should be making happy memories.

JUDGE REFUSED PIGEON BAIL - BECAUSE HE WAS A ‘FLIGHT RISK’

Police in Kuwait have said they caught a pigeon with 200 ecstasy pills tied to itself in a mini backpack.

Apparently the courier pigeon, the latest drug-smuggling technique used by traffickers, was tracked from Iraq and caught on a roof near customs.

It had earlier been spotted flying around an inner-city office block.

Come on, I’m not having that at all.

As if they tracked it from another country and it just happened to land near customs.

How convenient. Have the police there got Dastardly & Muttley on the payroll?

So what’s happened to the pigeon?

Well, the judge refused him bail – apparently he was a ‘flight risk’.

SHOULD WE RELY ON STATE TO PROVIDE CHILDREN WITH FOOD?

So the Conservatives released their manifesto and it’s fair to say that it went down like the proverbial lead balloon.

There’s a saying that goes ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’.

Well, there certainly won’t be if the Tories get in.

Everyone likes something that is free, but should we really be relying on the state to provide our children with food?

If you have children, then I think it should be your responsibility to give them breakfast and send them to school with lunch.

Saying that it is the worst-off who will be affected by this simply doesn’t wash with me.

Not when they’ve got Sky TV subscriptions, mobile phones and they pop into the bookies every day.