I WENT to Edinburgh University in 1985. At that time, it was only 40 years since the end of the Second World War. It seems extraordinary that it is almost 40 years ago from now.

Everyone smoked. Everyone went to the pub. It was cheap. I was on a student grant supplemented by benefits in the holidays and the occasional job, but if you were reasonably careful going out wasn’t a problem. The idea that Scotland might become independent didn’t occur to us.

In 1985 everyone at university was white. There were hardly any foreign students. The only people from ethnic minorities I met ran shops or takeaways.

There was casual racism, but no one had heard of the concept of Islamophobia. We weren’t scared of the pleasant owners of corner shops. We had no more fear or hatred of Islam than we had of Hinduism.