So the news broke that everybody had been dreading: Alan Henning had been killed in the most hideous way by his Islamic State extremist captors.

Here in Manchester  we heard the condemnations from an international perspective, and the response from a national perspective, but also we witnessed the local reaction, as Alan came from Manchester, or to be more precise, Salford. Among the many comments that came pouring out, amidst the anger and upset, were the platitudes for a man who died doing what he was most passionate about-helping those in need. In a vigil at the local church, Reverend Cyprian Yobera told the congregation “In one way you could look at it that Alan was taking some light to a dark place….”

Family, friends, colleagues and strangers waxed lyrical in heartfelt tributes to a man who had gone to Syria on an aid mission, a man who was moved…