The Queen and Boris Johnson lead tributes to victims and survivors on 20th anniversary of 9/11
The Queen sends ‘thoughts and prayers’ to victims of ‘terrible’ 9/11 attacks on 20th anniversary as US delegates hold a minute’s silence at Windsor Castle
Queen reflected on her 2010 visit to the site of attack on 20th anniversary of 9/11 in message to US PresidentPrime Minister Boris Johnson said threat of terrorism remains but people refuse to live their lives in ‘fear’Sir Keir Starmer said consequences of attacked were are ‘felt to this day’ and the tragedy was ‘still so raw’
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The Queen and Boris Johnson have lead tributes to the victims and survivors of 9/11 on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.
In her heartfelt message to President Joe Biden, the Queen reflected on her visit to the site of the attack back in 2010.
She said: ‘As we mark the 20th anniversary of the terrible attacks on September 11 2001, my thoughts and prayers, and those of my family and the entire nation, remain with the victims, survivors and families affected, as well as the first responders and rescue workers called to duty.
Delegates from the United States Embassy stand as the US national anthem is played at the Guard Change at Windsor Castle tomark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack
Flowers from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson were laid in the September 11 Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square this morning, with the signed note reading: ‘In remberance of those taken from us on 9/11 and in defiance of those who would have us live in fear’
In her heartfelt message to President Joe Biden, the Queen reflected on her visit to the site of the attack back in 2010 (pictured)
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer arrives holding a bunch of flowers to lay them in the September 11 Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square in London
American Airlines flight crew shed tears as they pay their respects at the September 11 Memorial Garden at Grosvenor Square in London
‘My visit to the site of the World Trade Centre in 2010 is held fast in my memory.
‘It reminds me that as we honour those from many nations, faiths and backgrounds who lost their lives, we also pay tribute to the resilience and determination of the communities who joined together to rebuild.’
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall also paid tribute to those involved in the attacks.
They said: ‘On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we remember all those who lost their lives and pay tribute to the tireless work of the emergency services, some of whom paid the ultimate sacrifice to save others.’
In a defiant message to be played at a memorial event at the Olympic Park in east London today, the Prime Minister said the threat of terrorism remained but people refused to live their lives in ‘permanent fear’.
‘The fact that we are coming together today – in sorrow but also in faith and resolve – demonstrates the failure of terrorism and the strength of the bonds between us,’ Mr Johnson said.
A man wipes away a tear during a private memorial service for family members of the victims of 9/11 in the Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square, London
Flower wreaths are lain in the Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square in London along with a picture Karlie Rogers, a 26-year-old University of Sussex graduate, who was one of 67 Brits to die in the terrorist attack in New York on September 11, 2001
A woman lays a flower wreath at a private memorial service for victims of 9/11 at the Memorial Garden in London
The Changing of the Guard at Windsor Castle on the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001
Delegates from the United States Embassy including Acting Ambassador, Philip T Reeker, (pictured in the red tie) at the Guard Change at Windsor Castle, to mark the 20th anniversary of the US terrorist attack
United States Embassy Acting Ambassador, Philip T Reeker, Charge d’Affaires, (pictured right) takes the salute at the Guard Change at Windsor Castle
Large crowds lined the streets in Windsor this morning as military personnel including a marching band arrive for the Guard Change at Windsor Castle to mark 20 years since the terrible events of 9/11
The US national is played at Windsor Castle to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 US terror attacks
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall also paid tribute to those involved in the attacks.
World leaders paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 (pictured)
People have been leaving flowers and American flags rest beside the names of the fallen on the south pool at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the consequences of the attacks were ‘still being felt to this day’, adding the tragedy was ‘still so raw’.
He said: ‘But as we mark this anniversary I’m convinced our resolve has never been stronger.
‘We will continue to fight terror and violence, by promoting our values of justice and peace.’
Mr Johnson said recent events in Afghanistan had only strengthened people’s belief in freedom and democracy.
The political leaders’ comments came as the prime minister at the time of the attacks – Tony Blair – said the international community must be prepared to take action against the Taliban if they again allow Afghanistan to become a base of terrorism.
The Queen (pictured in August) and Boris Johnson have lead tributes to the victims and survivors of 9/11 on the 20th anniversary of the attacks
Keir Starmer pays his respects as he takes a moment’s silence, saying in a statement that on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the consequences of the attacks were ‘still being felt to this day’ adding the tragedy was ‘still so raw’
The Tribute in Light in downtown Manhattan, a memorial to the victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the attack
Visitors browse the south pool as flowers and American flags rest among the names of the fallen at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Mr Blair said the US and its allies had no choice but to invade after the Taliban refused to give up the al Qaida leadership responsible for the attacks.
The former head of the UK armed forces, General Lord Richards, said the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan raised the prospect of ‘another 9/11’ as ungoverned spaces opened up which the terrorists were able to exploit.
‘I think we are (closer to another 9/11). We’ve now been pitched back into a dark period which we somehow have to manage,’ he told LBC.
Boris Johnson leads British tributes to 9/11 victims 20 years on as he warns terrorist threat ‘persists’ but they failed to ’cause us to abandon our values’
By Daniel Martin Policy Editor for the Daily Mail
Boris Johnson will today lead British tributes to the victims of 9/11, amid tension in the special relationship in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal from Kabul.
In a video message to be played at a memorial event in London, the Prime Minister warned the terrorist threat ‘persists’ – although they had failed to ’cause us to abandon our values, or to live in permanent fear’.
And he said last month’s events in Afghanistan should strengthen the West’s determination to ‘hold fast to our belief in liberty and democracy, which will always prevail over every foe’.
He will mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York from his official country residence.
The message will be played at a memorial event organised by the ‘Since 9/11’ organisation at the Olympic Park. The terrorist outrage killed 67 Britons out of nearly 3,000 in total.
In a video message to be played at a memorial event in London, the Prime Minister warned the terrorist threat ‘persists’ – although they had failed to ’cause us to abandon our values, or to live in permanent fear’
Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001
Mr Johnson said: ‘Twenty years ago, September 11 2001 became, in President Roosevelt’s words after Pearl Harbour, a ”date which will live in infamy”.
‘On a crystal clear morning, terrorists attacked the United States with the simple goal of killing or maiming as many human beings as possible, and by inflicting such bloodshed in the world’s greatest democracy, they tried to destroy the faith of free peoples everywhere in the open societies which terrorists despise and which we cherish.
‘And it is precisely because of the openness and tolerance of the United States that people of almost every nationality and religion were among the 2,977 murdered on that day, including 67 Britons, each of them a symbol of the eternal friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States.
‘But while the terrorists imposed their burden of grief and suffering, and while the threat persists today, we can now say with the perspective of 20 years that they failed to shake our belief in freedom and democracy; they failed to drive our nations apart, or cause us to abandon our values, or to live in permanent fear.’
He added: ‘The fact that we are coming together today – in sorrow but also in faith and resolve – demonstrates the failure of terrorism and the strength of the bonds between us.
‘The United Kingdom promised our American friends that we would be proud to receive a memorial, forged from the twisted steel of Ground Zero and display it permanently in the Olympic Park in London, which symbolises freedom and openness, the exact reverse of what the killers stood for.
‘Recent events in Afghanistan only strengthen our determination to remember those who were taken from us, cherish the survivors and those who still grieve and hold fast to our belief in liberty and democracy, which will always prevail over every foe.’
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said Mr Johnson would not be attending the memorial in New York in person on Saturday, but would ‘mark the anniversary at home’ as he works from Chequers this weekend.
Asked whether Mr Johnson was invited to visit New York – the city of his birth – as part of commemorations, the spokesman said: ‘I believe our ambassador in Washington will attend the memorial event in New York and lay a wreath.’
U.S Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea briefs the Press on 9/11 preparations from the Command Center at 1 Police Plaza on September 10 2021
Afghans struggle to reach the foreign forces to show their credentials to flee the country outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 26 August 2021
Meanwhile Jack Straw has said the West’s ‘fundamental mistake’ in Afghanistan was its belief that the Taliban was ‘out as well as down’.
Writing in House magazine, Mr Straw – who was foreign secretary at the time of the Nato invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 – said: ‘There were other errors. One was trying to pursue counter-terrorist and counter-narcotics strategies at the same time.
‘Tens of thousands of Afghan farmers depend on poppy production for their (meagre) livelihood, to meet the insatiable demand for heroin from the West. In the absence of viable alternative crops, eradicating poppy production was a recruiting sergeant for the Taliban.’
He added: ‘As for the future, military planners and historians will need to learn from our errors.
‘The US will need the painful lesson (not for the first time) that it is hearts and minds which ultimately wins a peace, not fire-power. And we will all have to swallow hard, and deal with the Taliban unless and until that becomes impossible.
‘International pressure, and aid, will both be necessary, not least if girls are to continue to be educated and women to work.’
