[Amanpour:] Moments ago, thousands of people flocked to Albert Square, that is in the heart of downtown Manchester. They came to pay their respects. Some were carrying placards saying, "I love Manchester," some were carrying flowers, and they all came and applauded when members of the city council and other local dignitaries talked and led the vigil and pledged that this city would remain united and the terrorists would not rip the fabric of this city apart. The poet, Tony Walsh was there and he read his ode to Manchester, "This is the Place". Here's what he said.
[Tony Walsh, Poet:] This is the place, in the northwest of England. It's ace, it's the best. And the songs that we sing from the stands, from our bands set the whole planet shaking. Our inventions are legends. There's not we can't make, and so we make brilliant music, we make brilliant bands, we make goals that make souls leap from seats in the stands. And we make things from steel, we make things from cotton, we make people laugh, take the mick sommat rotten, and we make you at home, we make you feel welcome, we make summat happen, we can't seem to help it. And if you're looking from history, then yes we have a wealth. But the Manchester way is to make it yourself. And make us a record, a new number one, and make us a brew while you're up, love, go on. And make us feel proud that you're winning the league, and make us sing louder and make us believe that this is the place that has helped shape the world. And this is the place where a Manchester girl named of Emmeline Pankhurst from the streets of Moss Side from the streets of Moss Side led a suffragette city with sisterhood pride.
[Amanpour:] A moment to smile perhaps. You heard the cheers down there when the poet Tony Walsh really rousingly rallied that crowd to remember the pride of this city and the space that it occupies in the United Kingdom. Well, joining me right now is the MEP of
[Afzal Khan, European Parliament Member And Former Lord Mayor Of Manchester Area:] Well, you've seen this tonight, this afternoon, this vigil. I was there.
[Amanpour:] And you were there when you heard the poet and all of them speaking.
[Khan:] It was amazing experience. You saw tens of thousands men coming together in the spirit of unity, defiance, cheering, message of love, solidarity. This is what Manchester is all about, so I am absolutely firmly I believe this, that Manchester actually is going to be even more stronger, not weaker.
[Amanpour:] And we saw members of different faith communities coming out from the town hall. We saw MPs, we saw all sorts of counselors and dignitaries. And people in the crowds, you know, desperate to be rallied. They had their flowers, they had, as I said, placards saying, "I love Manchester". But I mean, this was depraved what happened last night. That almost you actually can't put words to what people did, killing children.
[Khan:] That's like a bolt going through Manchester, to be honest. Real shock and horror. Unbelievable, yes? But this is why you also saw the other side now, the opposite side of coming together and saying, no, no, no, not in our
[Amanpour:] Have you been able to talk to any of the officials, any of the police officials, do you know anything about this young man who's been named as the person carrying the IED, according to the police? His name, 22-year-old Salman Abedi.
[Khan:] Yes, but, you know, this information, I think police, the emergency service have been doing amazing job since yesterday. They've been flat-out dealing with what had happened but then also getting on with the investigation. They're making
[Amanpour:] People like yourself, you know, who believes like so many the majority of this country in actually being law-abiding citizens, what do you say now to those in this city who clearly demonstrated, at least this one, that is not? Is there any kind of pocket of support for somebody like him to grow his radical ideas, his hate-filled whatever it might be?
[Khan:] Look, the world we're living in is really difficult, in the sense that it's so much easy for us to move around, which is amazing, but it can be used negatively. And equally, we can communicate so easily all over. Some of these things are throwing up new challenges for us all. And it's this we need to manage. You will always get you know, what we're seeing here, a small number they can cause such devastation, such a shockwave throughout the world almost. But we need to get on top of it, we need to keep the hope alive, we need to really get the whole people rallied like this what we've seen today in Manchester. I firmly believe that the humanity anywhere is very strong, very powerful. They are the majority, overly majority. It's the small number minority we need to deal with them, we need to challenge them, we need to do our best so they understand.
[Amanpour:] I mean, there's a there's a "how" to that, obviously. They are a minority, but they're there, some of them as we know are common criminals, some of them are thugs who have been to prison who think they found religion and have come out and have done this kind of thing. There's umpteen reasons for why these
[Khan:] Yes. Some have mental problems.
[Amanpour:] Some have a mental problem.
[Khan:] So, it is complex, you know.
[Amanpour:] So, what's to be done? This is happening now with alarming regularity.
[Khan:] Yes, that's right. So what we need to do is really keep reaching out further. More first, being that good example, making sure we keep an eye on some of our young people, making sure, you know, what some of the things they're doing, what they're saying, helping them.
[Amanpour:] Do you think the whole community is prepared to keep an eye on and to report whoever might seem to be up to no good in this way?
[Khan:] Look, it's a very difficult time where we are standing but I think if you'll reflect back in the last 10, 12 years, for example, in Britain, the police services or intelligence services have some amazing record in identifying some of these issues and problems, and got
[Amanpour:] Afzal Khan, thank you so much indeed for joining us. Former Lord Mayor of Manchester, thank you very much.
[Khan:] Thank you.
[Amanpour:] And we will be back with much more after this short break.