I met my gay friend at Edinburgh airport. After he showed me his scars he introduced me to a tall, slim and beautiful African woman, her mother and two children. These were his “wife”, “mother-in-law”, and his own son and daughter. I couldn’t believe that he had the cheek to explain the cosy family set-up with his male civil partner standing right next to him. Apparently the domestic arrangements were such that my friend enjoyed a family life. Meanwhile this woman had leave to remain in the UK with her eleven off-spring. I wondered how many other “husbands” she had acquired?

We continued through to departures together. Along the way the children played indoor ice hockey on the shiny airport floors. I helped them whenever they lost the puck.

Then a shocking message came through on the public address system. All passengers were to be super-vigilant because of breaking news of an airport attack in England. Apparently Manchester airport was under fire in retaliation for the recent allied bombing of Delhi. The voice advised us not to panic. This was difficult when you knew that there was a high possibility of a coordinated enemy attack on all UK airports, and you were currently stuck in one of them.