Wednesday 28th August

What a surprise.  Exiting the plane at Stansted the sun was shining brilliantly.  Most other times I have returned to overcast or drizzle and a noticeable drop in the temperature, but this time it felt at least as hot as France.  And then in the evening I had a meal with my daughter and her family as they were staying in the London house, and it was so hot in the restaurant.

On the train journey back into London, as the train snaked its way through the North-East London suburbs the sun was glinting off the skyscrapers in the city, quite low in the sky it shone its gorgeous warmth over everything.  And London looks so lovely in the sunshine; this morning here in prêt, looking out over Green Park.

We have had a lovely summer, and even though the TV and papers are so full of Syria and impending war, somehow it all seems to be happening somewhere else.  I wonder if this will be Cameron’s Falklands moment, or possibly more like Blair’s.   I don’t think that anyone wants us to actually go to war this time, even the Americans and the French, but they want to try and tip the scales so that the rebels can maybe do it on their own.   But will some sort of aerial bombardment achieve anything except more death and destruction.  There is talk of bombing the chemical weapons sites, but what if this in itself releases far more stuff into the atmosphere.

Nobody wants to ignore the use of chemical weapons, but so far the evidence is not conclusive that it was Assad who used them, and even if it is confirmed, then what?  If by using an attack as some sort of warning it will prevent further atrocities then it might just work.  But we are talking about a cornered beast here, which is fighting for its life.  It is impossible to tell what might happen next.  Sunshine or no sunshine.