The day that changed the World

We all remember exactly where we were on that most shocking infamous day. The world as we knew it literally came crashing down with a level of fear not known in Western Europe since the second World War.

On that fateful day I’d driven to Westminster to visit the Directors of YOUGOV.com - Stephan Shakespeare, and Nadhim Zahawi, who is now a member of Parliament for Stratford on Avon. It was commonplace to drive in and out of central London back then when there was no congestion charge.

We had a good meeting, the Directors informed me that they were moving away from being a news site to one that undertook polls - I should have invested there and then. Even back then they were an ambitious organisation, their offices were swish with a TV screen in the foyer. I’m not quite sure how it was brought to our attention but we found ourselves in front of the screen because the news reports were that a small light aircraft had flown into one of the Twin Towers in New York. The pictures were showing a small hole in the building with some smoke coming out. It looked bad but not devastating - I think we even carried on with our meeting. It wasn’t until the second plane collided into the second tower that the enormity began to sink in. I left the meeting, jumped in the car to head back to the office.

On the way I put on Radio 4 but to my astonishment, there was no news about what was unfolding, so I changed the station to LBC. Listening to the poor presenter on air, I thought that this might be the beginning of world war three! As I drove along the Mile End Road back to the office, the presenter described the collapse of the first tower. The impossible was happening. I was also mindful that we lived in the vicinity of the Canary Wharf Tower – there was only one at the time – would that be the next target I thought?

I arrived back to the office. Staff were frightened and confused. We huddled around a TV desperately trying to make sense of what we were seeing but also, bizarrely wanting to carry on with our work.

It’s interesting to me that apart from those first few hours I cannot remember anything else about that day, even for a few days afterwards.

I do remember thinking to myself, almost selfishly - I am ashamed to say - that my planned visit to Washington DC and another six cities across the USA on the 12th Sept, courtesy of the US Embassy- would be cancelled.

I did received a call two days later from the US Embassy here in London that all flights to the USA had been cancelled until further notice. A few days later, I was told flights would resume, but they would fully understand if I wanted to cancel the planned trip until further notice, or completely. Frankly, I was in no rush to get on any plane, much less to the USA. However, just as my own fear and sense of mortality was growing an, Embassy official told me, ‘Mr Woolley we’d like you to go. We want to show the world that we are open for business’.

On the 15th September, just four days after the most dramatic attack every undertaking on American soil I flew to Washington DC on one of the first flights from London.

Simon Woolley