Tariq Jahan’s Britain

Many aspects of British life have been on display this week but, amidst them all, Tariq Jahan’s response to the death of his son, killed in Birmingham, deserves to be remembered too.

The qualities on display here are scarcely unique to this island but there is a dignity and fortitude of a kind that we like to think reflects a certain classic kind of Britishness. Not that Mr Jahan is alone; social media efforts have been busy raising money for worthy causes today, including the 89-year old barber whose shop was destroyed in the rioting. Amidst the despair, there is still much decency and more of it than perhaps we, or the newspapers, tend to remember.