Bureaucratic decisions came easily to Charles, sometimes too easily; he could be flippant. He was anxious to bring the meeting to a close while trying not to make it too obvious. ‘We say no, then. Tell the MOD that if they produce a car that is FAP, transportable, grade-compatible and goes up hills we’ll look again at our decision.’

Cath looked surprised but not displeased. ‘Well, yes, CSS, if you’re – but there’s still the question of H&S. Marigold has signed up to saying we’ve got to have them.’

‘And so we shall, tell her, when they produce something that’s fit for purpose.’ That was a popular phrase with contemporary resonance. He had surprised himself by coming up with it. ‘Must be FFP,’ he added. ‘And ask her to liaise closely with the MOD on lightweight materials research and possible drone countermeasures.’ That should keep Marigold and her staff busy for the foreseeable future. ‘Any other business?’

Stephen, Cath’s youthful new deputy, a transferee from Work and Pensions, said that the report on the marauding exercise at Hyde Park that Charles had witnessed with Gareth Horley was still in draft. ‘Main points?’ asked Charles.

‘The attack side of it went well. We estimate that, given seventy to eighty per cent building occupancy on the day, which is about normal for Head Office, there would have been between thirty and forty-five per cent casualties.’

‘Alarm and evacuation procedures?’

‘Not quite so well. Hence the casualties.’

‘And the intervention force?’

‘They achieved their object, which was to halt the attack. But they would also have caused quite a few of the casualties themselves, we think. And they would have suffered a few, which has H&S implications for future police deployment. The police aren’t supposed to expose their staff to serious risk of harm without signed-off risk assessments. Which means we may not be able to call on them.’

‘So who would we use?’

‘The army, I suppose.’

‘But they wouldn’t be there.’

‘No. Unless we knew about the attack in advance.’

‘Bit of a shambles, then?’ Charles smiled, to spare Stephen embarrassment. ‘Useful because it proves what we’ve long suspected, so we can now make a case for better arrangements on the basis of evidence. No doubt the same would happen if there was an attack on this building now. Will the report suggest ways of improving our defences and procedures?’

Stephen made a note on his pad. ‘I’m not sure. I’ll ask.’

‘Tell them if it doesn’t, it must.’ He looked around the room. ‘Anything else?’

Eric, head of physical security, half-raised his hand. ‘Just one thing, CSS. Not a big issue, or not yet. It’s another of these LBGT – LBGT issues. I’m not sure whether now is the—’