I felt great sadness when I heard the nation had lost a remarkable woman whose songs brought comfort to a nation battling for its very survival. Known as the Forces' Sweetheart, Dame Vera Lynn, who was 103, was best known for her wartime anthem We'll Meet Again. Even today her songs are extraordinarily emotive and her passing is the end of an era. At 1000 our Defence Select Committee met again, this time in private. Our first witness was Attilio Zani, who is the Executive Director of the Telecom Infra Project. Mr Zani is an experienced global business executive with more than 20 years working in the telecom industry alongside operators, vendors, investors and policymakers. He also spent more than 12 years at GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications), where he led strategic engagement and forged global business partnerships and accelerated adoption of new technologies and standards. As TIP Executive Director, Mr Zani helps the organization drive growth and impact by working closely with the Board of Directors, Technical Committee, Project Group Chairs and members of the community to realize the goal of accelerating the pace of innovation in the telecom industry. Mr Zani has additionally served as an independent consultant to telecoms businesses. Our second witness was David Hutton, a technology expert with 25 years of experience in telecommunications, with extensive knowledge of existing and future mobile network technologies. Both men were fascinating to listen to. In the early afternoon I had another call regarding a potential business moving to Winfrith, but again that was in confidence. And at 1800 we held our weekly conference call with the CCG. The good news is that COVID-19 cases are down. The SW has the lowest infection rate of 141/100,000. Infections in our two unitary council areas was down too. Dorset Council had 368 cases, while BC&P had 488. The Prime Minister, meantime, met French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street to mark the 80th anniversary of a famous wartime broadcast. In 1940, Charles de Gaulle used the BBC to send a radio message to Nazi-occupied France, urging people not to give up the struggle against Hitler. Mr Johnson praised the "courage and sacrifice" of those who fought on.