What these messages reveal – if we needed telling – is that politicians and scientists were overwhelmed by a crisis for which they were unprepared and did not understand.
Putin’s Russia is closer to home – remember the Salisbury attack – and Islamist extremism is already here.
Wallace has done well to win an exceptional defence settlement, but it may not be enough to fund all the Integrated Review’s ambitions.
One MP said this is more than enough for Islamists here, not nearly sufficient for Estonia and “for the Middle East, you’d want something in between”.
As the great eye of the Conservative Party swivels its gaze towards the Far East, it’s in danger of missing other threats that are closer to home.
The Health Secretary answered questions about the NHS with equal confidence.
“In my personal opinion, Olly Robbins should go to the Tower, in which case he should arrive by river.”
A new book, White Flag?, tries to sound the alarm. Will anyone listen?
At a ConHome conference interview yesterday, Williamson suggested we should do so if it will save or improve lives without disproportionate cost.
And: Churchill-mania, Moggmania, and the passion of Rory Stewart. Plus: too many lobbyists.
The Defence Secretary outlined a programme of national self-assertion from Ukraine to the South China Sea.
Plus: Labour anti-semitism, May’s African dancing. Will Mordaunt speak to the conference? And: will Russia take on NATO?
As our proprietor and his co-author prepare to release a new book on defence, we say again what we’ve said before about the implications of Brexit for the armed forces.
“It is not about Remain or Leave,” the Observer journalist replies – while notably failing to say “yes”.
The only explanation I can find is that she mistakenly assumed I was just another Tory public school boy, to whom she did not need to bother giving the time of day.