Story one on News At Ten last Wednesday was the latest revelation about high-spending, free-loading MPs. Story two was the coffins of four British soldiers returning from Afghanistan. It made for a stark juxtaposition.
On the one hand you have Government ministers and backbench MPs who have been squeezing every last penny out of a very generous allowance system to ensure their homes are equipped to a high standard. On the other, you have four brave young men laying down their lives in the service of this country. One a story of greed, the other a story of sacrifice. Two very different attitudes to public duty and serving this nation. What a contrast.
And it’s a contrast made starker still by news that urgent equipment needed by our troops on the front line in Afghanistan is still not getting through on time. Fewer than two-thirds of consignments – 57 per cent – reach our battle units on time. After eight years to get it right, that is surely not good enough. I spoke this week to a young officer who has just returned from Afghanistan and who told me they are still driving around in vehicles that offer inadequate protection. He lost men in a roadside bomb because better vehicles failed to arrive. They can equip their homes all right, but not our boys in the firing line.
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