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A friend recently sent me a link to a newspaper poll naming Britain’s top 10 worst towns.’ To my dismay the town where I grew up, Huddersfield, had come second. While she joked about her own town being on the list, I admit I lingered on that story for a while, I couldn’t just dismiss it. Perhaps what was a little unsettling was reading some of the comments made by Huddersfield residents themselves. When a town that’s been home for a big part of your life, a town whose people you still remember fondly, is so easily rubbished, it’s no longer just about the town, it’s about you. And so the reaction to President Trump's latest tweets about Baltimore didn’t come as too much of a surprise. President trump’s criticism of congressman Elijah Cummings included a reference to his congressional district of west Baltimore which the President described as a `disgusting rat and rodent infested mess… no human being would want to live there’ In its response, the Baltimore Sun newspaper carried a scathing column which reflected the anger caused by the President’s comments. It ended by saying "Better to have some vermin living in your neighbourhood than to be one." No one should ignore the various problems of those towns where economic decline, austerity, youth isolation, drugs and other crimes define them as ` left behind’ in political speech. But towns and cities aren’t just spaces and places, they’re about our lives and identities. Good infrastructure and investment are essential to economic and social prosperity and many may feel limited by their demographics and personal circumstances. But it seems to me that the state has a moral duty to enable every community to unlock its potential, so that people can hope and work for bigger and better for themselves and their environment because it is the local spirit which creates the national spirit. Nothing is as powerful as human aspiration. Our towns and cities are about our heritage and taking pride in ourselves. I’ve always argued that the Islamic concept of a people or ummah should be understood not only to refer to other Muslims but everyone. It’s when we work together in communities which are diverse, inclusive and welcoming, that we all flourish. The prophetic words `The best of people are those that bring most benefit to the rest of mankind’ sees ummah as a uniting rather than dividing concept. Because at a time when many of us can be part of a variety of communities online and create multiple identities for ourselves, there’s still something about our commitment and faith in our physical neighbourhoods and towns that defines so much of who we are.