Lighting candles is not enough says Nuttall
The stepped resumption of general election campaigning after the horrors of Manchester required tact and sensitivity, and a determination to find appropriate wording.
Paul Nuttall launched the Ukip manifesto and the nation held its breath.
None of the major parties were campaigning nationally yesterday. They resume today. It will be back to normality, but a different kind of normality in which the terrorist atrocity will inevitably hang heavily over the remainder of the campaign.
Ukip is a political party which revels in saying the things that other political parties will not say.
True to form, Mr Nuttall did not hold back, calling it as he sees it, using a tone and language which you will be unlikely to hear from any Conservative, Labour, or Lib Dem politicians, but which he believes connects to ordinary people who feel the main parties are not speaking for them.
Yet he has a problem. While Labour's policies may sound like an episode of All Our Yesterdays, Ukip is having to fight off the impression that it is Yesterday's Party and that Mr Nuttall is Yesterday's Man.
The Brexit vote has left the question in the air: Is there any point to Ukip now?
Mr Nuttall's response is that Ukip is Britain's insurance policy to stop Theresa May backsliding. Unfortunately for him, the local council elections suggest that it is an insurance policy nobody thinks it is worth buying into.
As for that language which will probably get a headline or two, he spoke of the need to "turn back the tide of Islamic fundamentalism" and that radical Islam is "a cancer which needs to be cut out."
"It is the role of Ukip in our national political life to challenge the cosy Establishment consensus when it is failing the British public. We did that on immigration control, we did that on Brexit, and we will now do it by tackling issues surrounding integration.
"These are issues that the other political parties would rather brush under the carpet and the Westminster chatterati would rather ignore simply because it makes them uncomfortable."
There was a pledge to protect the nation's security with 20,000 extra police officers, 20,000 extra troops, 7,000 extra prison officers, and 4,000 extra border guards.
"Expressing sympathy with those killed and maimed in Manchester is important. But it is not enough to light candles or signal our upset on social media...Be in no doubt that the problem will not be solved if politicians are too cowardly to confront or even identify where the problem lies.
"Moreover, without the political will to take difficult decisions, challenge communities, and most importantly secure our borders, things are only going to get worse."
Not exactly an uplifting message of hope.
