Three vessels from a foreign military power tried to seize a British ship conducting its rightful business. The simplicity of these words belies the incredible menace behind Iran’s actions. Not for the first time, Britain’s interests were defended by the Royal Navy.

As the son of a naval officer, I know a little of the sacrifices of these individuals and of their families back home – that mixture of worry and pride when a loved one serves overseas.

We should be honest about the situation our armed forces are in. As many former defence chiefs have warned, we have been underspending for a while on ensuring our capabilities are up to 21st-century conflict.

We can be proud of our commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence. We must also be realistic that the scale of threats we face has increased. The wars of the future will be fought using completely new technologies – not least in cyber – and if we do not invest in them even our newer weapons will be obsolete.

Furthermore when you look at this week’s events it shows that in recent decades we have run down the Navy too much. Our current commitment is for 19 destroyers and frigates, supported by excellent offshore patrol vessels.