Countdown to conflict: how May took the decision to order strikes

Pale and tired after one of the most testing and sleepless nights of her premiership, Theresa May’s voice cracked just a little as she addressed journalists – and the British people – from the state dining room in No 10 Downing Street at 9am yesterday.The conclusion that airstrikes would be carried out had been reached over several days of intense diplomatic activity between London, Washington and Paris.All three governments and their intelligence and military services had