‘All terrorists are politely reminded that this is London and whatever you do to us we will drink tea and jolly well carry on. Thank you.” It was hard not to smile at the messages such as this that appeared online in the wake of Khalid Masood’s murderous rampage through Westminster. How ineffably British. The stiff upper lip. Keep calm and carry on.

Yet I found myself increasingly uneasy as details of Masood’s life began to come out. Adrian Elms was his real name. A former neighbour recalled a “polite, shy” and “quite portly man” who liked gardening and playing with his children. Then we read of the racism he suffered in “the quiet Sussex village of Northiam”, where he was one of only two