I’M usually a bit of a night owl.

I tend to stay up late at the best of times, but last Sunday evening I was wide awake just after midnight, as I have been most evenings during Ramadan. I’d just finished my prayers at home and had switched on the TV as I sat down with my husband to eat an early morning meal before beginning my fast again.

What I saw made me sick to my stomach.

While the police were careful to evaluate the full facts of the situation before announcing the incident outside Finsbury Park Mosque in north London as a terrorist attack, even through the hazy early detail of scrolling news coverage it was clear to everyone watching that what was unfolding before our eyes was a cowardly act of barbaric hatred against Muslims.

It was no more or less an act of terrorism than the recent atrocities against children and music fans in Manchester, the police and tourists in Westminster or Londoners enjoying an evening in Borough Market. Unlike these other horrific events, the police now have a suspect in custody and so justice must be seen to be done. I absolutely understand that this is one of the reasons why media coverage of this event must be handled differently. But this doesn’t mean that many of the same questions should not be asked in response to this new chapter of violence.

Who or what has warped the mind of those responsible for this vile act? How have they become radicalised in such a murderous way? What action do we need to take now to prevent this from ever happening again? It is right and proper that media coverage doesn’t prejudice the outcome of any future prosecution. But this approach does not excuse the role that some elements of the media have undoubtedly played in setting a context which allows those responsible for violent racism to vindicate their inhumanity.

When our right-wing tabloid newspapers regularly incite intolerance and distrust of immigrants, refugees and the Muslim community they are creating a context where diversity is under threat, and where those particular journalists and editors have set out a case where these human beings, our friends, neighbours and workmates, pose an existential threat to their twisted view of what should make up the UK today.

This is not simply a phenomenon created at the desks of the editors of the Express and the Daily Mail. Our political leaders also have a responsibly to set an example, and so must also take their share of responsibility when things go wrong.

When Theresa May stood on the steps of Downing Street following the London Bridge attack, her conspicuous choice of language was designed to dehumanise the perpetrators – terrorists were “breeding” like a virus, while extremism needs “stamped out” – betrayed a pattern of dangerous and enabling behaviour that must be recognised and addressed.

As the noted speechwriter Simon Lancaster wrote elsewhere this week when analysing this intervention, “Metaphors are not just innocent linguistic devices. They enable wicked people to justify heinous acts”.

Theresa May has form on this issue. From the infamous “Go Home” vans, to her speech in 2015 when the jostling for position in the race to follow David Cameron to become to be the next Tory leader had begun, the then Home Secretary gave an inflammatory and ill-judged speech to the Tory Conference in which, contrary to all the available facts, she falsely accused migrants for lowering wages. She went on to state without shame or embarrassment that it was her view as Home Secretary that immigration makes it “impossible to build a cohesive society”.

Shame on her. She was wrong then and she’s wrong again now.

We should look to the many, many acts of kindness that have sprung from these tragedies as testament to the good that binds the majority here together. Those brave police and medical staff who ran towards danger on our behalf. The hundreds of Londoners from all faiths and none who turned out on the streets over the past 48 hours to show their solidarity with those affected. The actions of the Imam in Finsbury Park who put himself in danger to protect the safety of the man who had moments earlier declared that he wanted to “kill all Muslims”.

I have made the point before that words are powerful devices, for good or for bad. Those of us with a platform in public life have a huge responsibility in choosing them carefully. It gives me no comfort to report that the Prime Minister has failed this test once more.

Recent tragic events at Grenfell Tower, Borough Market, Westminster Bridge and Manchester, combined with wider political insecurity caused by the hung parliament, Brexit and even the presidency of Donald Trump, have combined to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and vulnerability across our society.

This sense of helplessness exists not only because we’ve been buffeted by horrendous events, but because of the lack of emotional leadership on display in the UK today. Quite simply, we have a Prime Minister who seems unable to convince anyone that she actually cares.

Theresa May cannot, and will not change. She should go, and go now.