I had a telephone conversation today with a constituent who has recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. He told me of his anger at the deficiencies in equipment, particularly helicopters, that were now, increasingly, costing lives – eight on Friday alone.
This afternoon, Gordon Brown made a statement to the House in which he declared unequivocally that there was no shortage of helicopters, saying that they had increased in number by 60 per cent since 2006.
The problem, however, is that troop numbers in Afghanistan have doubled since 2006, meaning that in reality the position has worsened. So Brown was engaging in fairly transparent spin.
Our soldiers, in one of the most hostile theatres imaginable, are entitled the very best equipment available. The hard fact is that they haven’t got it -or at least enough of it – and the position is getting worse.
Gordon Brown should stop flannelling and make it his personal business to get the helicopters out to Afghanistan by whatever means it takes. Spin is just not good enough.
The major issue is the army is having to battle to get to the battle, sharp end and logistics. There are three battles; the battles, the walk to the battle, and the government.
The Conservative hierarchy really need to get a grip and reinstate Patrick Mercer to the front bench as soon as possible, he is a tireless worker for the party and more to the point knows the brief of defence very well, he has served after all in a senior position with distinction.