I’m struck that there has been nothing from senior ministers here echoing the very stark public warnings from Macron and Tusk last week of an escalation in Russian hybrid attacks on European countries. And there will no parliamentary opportunity to quiz them on this for three weeks.

Walking past the Tower of London, one of William’s first building projects in his newly conquered kingdom.

I recalled the words of another Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey, standing in that same room in August 1914: ‘the lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime’. We owe it to all the victims of 9/11! to ensure that we never forget, and stay vigilant. 5/5

Straw and I launched into a whirl of diplomatic activity with countries round the world to translate the outpouring of solidarity with the US into practical measures to counter this new menace of suicide attacks intended to maximise civilian casualties. In a brief pause… 4/5

We immediately suspected al-Qaida, given their track record of suicide bombings. As Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee in 2000, I had produced assessments that AQ were responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden. But this was on a vastly different scale. 3/5

As we watched in horror, an airliner hit the second tower with a sickening impact. In the next hour, two other aircraft crashed, one into the Pentagon. Hoon and Boyce rushed back to the MOD given that airborne terrorists might also be headed for the UK. A sobering moment. 2/5

On the afternoon of 11 September 2001, I was the FCO Political Director meeting with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and CDS Adm Mike Boyce in Jack’s office. A private secretary called us out to watch TV as smoke billowed from one of the WTC towers. 1/5

I suppose it was on tap.

As the once in a millennium Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum opens its doors to the public, I wish everyone who visits in the next 10 months the same sense of awe and wonder I felt at seeing it up close (thanks to the brilliant showcase) with all its clear details and bright colours!

That was it.

The chronicles suggest Harold swore to support William’s claim to the English throne. If so, Harold was a perjurer when he took the crown, and William had his ‘legal base’ for invasion. But if not? That issue w’d have been v sensitive in 1070s England, so the Tapestry maintains a diplomatic silence!

What’s your favourite scene? Mine is a moment of diplomatic ambiguity. Here Harold is with William in Bayeux before the conquest, stretching between two reliquaries. ‘Where Harold swears a sacred oath to Duke William’. But what did he swear? The Tapestry is oddly silent. Why? 3/4

The decision by President Macron to lend the Tapestry is a brilliant piece of cultural diplomacy. I’m sure he understood that it would have a huge impact in the UK, since 1066 is so central to Britain’s national story, and that this could only be good for the wider 🇬🇧🇫🇷 relationship. 2/4

MacMillan in old age commented on Eden ‘he was trained to win the Derby in 1938; unfortunately he was not let out of the starting stalls until 1955’.