Portrait of the week | 25 May 2017

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Twenty-two people were killed and 59 wounded by a man who blew himself up, with a bomb containing metal fragments, in the foyer of Manchester Arena as crowds were leaving a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande, aged 23, who has a strong following among young girls. Of the wounded, 12 were children. Police named the suspected murderer as Salman Ramadan Abedi, aged 22, a Mancunian whose family come from Libya, which he had recently visited. Isis said it was behind the attack. A 23-year-old man was arrested the next day. The official threat level was raised to ‘critical’, meaning that an attack was expected imminently. Soldiers were deployed in the streets to support armed police. The Queen said: ‘I would like to express my admiration for the way the people of Manchester have responded, with humanity and compassion, to this act of barbarity.’ Theresa May, the Prime Minister, said: ‘This attack stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice, deliberately targeting innocent, defenceless children and young people.’ Parties suspended election campaigning after the attack.

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Mrs May performed a spectacular U-turn over a manifesto policy on payment for social care, even though she exclaimed at a press conference: ‘Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed.’ The Conservative manifesto had said that anyone needing residential care or care at home would have to pay for it until their assets — including the value of their home — were reduced to £100,000. It was promised that a house need not be sold until after the death of its owner and surviving spouse. After a weekend of weakening opinion polls and embarrassing interviews by ministers, a proposal to cap the total anyone need pay was added, though no sum was given. In the five weeks after the election was called 2,938,000 people applied for a vote, 1,051,000 of them under 25, of whom 246,487 left their application till the last day allowed.