Boris Johnson memoir quote:

"Britain's top brass filed into my office in No 10, bearing with them hundreds of years of collective operational experience, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. It was about 6pm, at the very end of March 2021, and after several days of deliberation they had reached a verdict.

"They had seen sieges, firefights, hostage rescues and hairbreadth 'scapes in the imminent deadly breach. It was clear from their ­manner, however, that they did not like the look of this one, Sarge.

"It fell to the deputy chief of the defence staff (military strategy and operational), Lieutenant General Doug Chalmers, to act as their spokesman. 'Well, PM,' he coughed, 'it's certainly feasible.'

"He explained how we could do it. We would send one team on a commercial flight to Amsterdam, while another team would use the cover of darkness to cross the Channel in ribs (rigid inflatable boats) and navigate up the canals.

"They would then rendezvous at the ­target; enter; secure the ­hostage goods, exfiltrate using an articulated lorry, and make their way to the Channel ports.

"'But I have to warn you, PM' – and they all looked at me ­meaningfully – 'that it will not be possible to do this undetected.' He pointed out that there were lockdowns in place in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the local authorities might observe our movements.

"I considered this. It did not seem an insuperable objection. OK, I said: so what if our movements are detected?

'Well, PM,' he said, 'if we are detected we will have to explain why we are effectively invading a long-standing Nato ally.'

"Of course, I knew he was right, and I secretly agreed with what they all thought but did not want to say aloud: that the whole thing was nuts.

"I beg you to forgive my ­desperation. It was in the best possible cause. I had ­commissioned some work on whether it might be technically feasible to launch an aquatic raid on a warehouse in Leiden, in the Netherlands, and to take that which was legally ours and which the UK desperately needed."