Frank

I shall be remaining as critical as ever of Assad, Putin, Iran and Hezbollah.

I look forward to being called every name under the sun by people who, barely a week ago, were calling me every name under the sun because I did not want to nuke Assad, Putin, Iran or Hezbollah.

All sorts and conditions have been bombing Syria for quite some time now. And for what?

At the very least, how would their battle against IS be assisted by the addition of what little remained of the British Armed Forces under this Government?

France is not at war because Paris was attacked. Rather, Paris was attacked because France was at war, as Beirut was attacked because Hezbollah was at war, and as a Russian airliner was attacked because Russia was at war.

The attack on Paris was a calculated attack on the beating heart of European high culture, on the capital of Europe's most abiding state (the eastern border has shifted a bit from time to time, but there has always been France), and on the citadel of the Frankish Crusaders.

In no sense were the Frankish Crusaders being attacked as purely an historical memory.