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HTS, a former branch of al-Qaida, has made efforts to soften its sectarian image and, possibly, ideology. H A Hellyer, a senior associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, said careful management of relations with diverse communities was one reason for the successes of the last week, pointing to the negotiated entry of the rebels into Ismaili Shia villages as an example. “If they could pull off that kind of approach with Alawite communities then it is all over,” Hellyer said, referring to the heterodox Shia minority of which Assad is a member and from which he draws much of his most loyal support.

Alistair Carns was making a case for more and better-trained reserve forces to give credibility as well as capability to the Army. He gave his grim diagnosis at a workshop on reserves at the Royal United Services Institute, in a set-piece speech, which must have had government approval.

The dawn of a third nuclear age demands a ‘national and collective sense of purpose… leadership and a willingness to act’. That was the message of the head of Britain’s armed forces when he delivered his annual lecture to the Royal United Services Institute this week.