Shortly after I was appointed minister for the Middle East in May 2010, I asked Downing Street if the UK could become actively involved in assisting the efforts being made by the US to revive and deliver on the Middle East peace process.

It is not unusual for the annual UN General Assembly, referred to universally as UNGA, to take place in the shadow of a crisis somewhere, and this year is no exception.

The rest of the world might be forgiven for paying little attention to yet another change of Conservative prime minister in the UK. It is hardly rare — this will be the third such event since 2016 to be handled internally by the party in power rather than by the electorate.

There is a famous Sherlock Holmes mystery that has given to the world an idiom: The curious case of the dog in the night that did not bark when it should have done.