Boris Johnson leads British tributes to 9/11 victims 20 years on

Boris Johnson leads British tributes to 9/11 victims 20 years on
Boris Johnson leads British tributes to 9/11 victims 20 years on

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

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: '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.

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

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

'But while the terrorists imposed their burden of grief and suffering, and while the threat

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