A break but not a rest

After another 12 months of frenetic political activity, I am about to head off for a break.

However, with the General Election getting closer by the day, the campaigning will continue and I will still be out and about in Keighley and Ilkley at various points in August, knocking doors and delivering leaflets with other members of my team.

And there’s another reason why I don’t want to go too far away.

With Gordon Brown on holiday, Peter Mandelson is apparently in charge of the country and so I think it best to be closer to home!

Have a good summer.

Further contempt for our Armed Forces

News that the Ministry of Defence will go to court today to try to reduce the amount of compensation awarded to two injured soldiers is yet further evidence – not that it was needed – that this Government has the welfare of our servicemen and women well down its list of priorities.

Both men had their very modest awards increased after complications with their wounds – but the Government believes they should only be compensated for their “original injuries.”

This is nothing short of scandalous and hardly sends the right signal to our troops currently fighting and dying in Afghanistan, not to mention those soldiers shortly due to fly out to relieve them.

It also underlines how out of step Gordon Brown and his dwindling team are with the current mood of this country.

The fog of Labour

There is a very serious debate raging at the moment over a lack of proper equipment and, in particular, helicopters for our troops in Afghanistan. And, as ever, the Labour Government is being dishonest with the British people.

First, it is a simple fact that Chancellor Gordon Brown pushed through a £1.4 billion cut in funding for helicopters in 2004.

And second, whilst he and his ministers have been running around saying that British helicopter numbers in Afghanistan have increased by 60% since 2006, what they have failed to admit is that our troop numbers have doubled since then.

As someone who served with the British Army during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, I know only too well how vital the availability of helicopters is in treacherous areas where roadside bombs are an inherent danger to soldiers’ lives – for South Armagh substitute Helmand Province.

They are not a luxury but a necessity and the very least our men and women in uniform should expect when deployed in such a theatre of operations.

But, once again according to Gordon Brown and co, our troops and their commanders could not be happier with their lot.

The phrase “fog of war” is a well-worn one in times of conflict.

However, under this Labour Government, we can talk about fog being deliberately placed in the way of the truth almost each and every day.

Tragically, our soldiers are being made to pay for the deceit over a lack of helicopters with their lives.