Listening to Prime Ministers Question Time if one thing stands out its the huge chasm that appears to exist between Labour pronouncements on Afghanistan and the reality on the ground for the ordinary serviceman.

Like many other last night I was profoundly moved by the incredible public reception by residents in Wootton Bassett to return home of the eight servicement recently killed.

At the same time we here persistent reports from soldiers about inadequate equipment, comments from former senior militarymen and advisors about lack of helicopters and other equipment.

The complete incompetence and dithering this Government is showing is now politicising virtually every aspect of Government, even areas such as defence which once carried a convention of Government support. But clearly in the wake of such dithering and incompetence MP’s and opposition can not (and should not) stand by and allow the Government to waffle through the concerns raised while week in week out we bring back more and more of our dead servicemen.

The Government has to get a grip of the situation. We are in NATO, if we haven’t got any more suitable helicopters (to use that example of a pressing need), then lets borrow them off other NATO countries. What’s NATO for, for goodness sake!  If we haven’t got to hand whats need lets get it.

A matter of life and death if ever there was one.