David Cameron's speech to Spring Forum 2010

David Cameron's speech to the Conservative Party Spring Forum today demonstrated clearly his readiness to serve his country as Prime Minister.

You can watch David's speech by clicking here: Davids speech to Spring Forum 2010

Why not tell me what you think by posting a comment!

Day 4 -

Up early to get to the Conference Hall in order to participate in the "Great Britain" debate. Having asked a question from the platform it was time to do a quick interview for ITN and then off to say a few goodbyes in advance of the Leaders speech.

(watch my question at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00n8ttw/Conservative_Party_Conference_2009_08_10_2009/ from 44 minutes 50 seconds)

Such was the enthusiasm and anticipation of David's speech that queues for the afternoon session started forming from 11am for a scheduled 2pm start.

A few kind Scottish gentlemen who came down to Manchester to lobby Conference had managed to get near the front of the queue and very kindly let Peter Lyburn and I nicked in near the front - only for us to be sat in the Conservative Future section when we finally got into the hall.

For me the speech I heard today from David Cameron was every bit a speech from a Prime Minister in waiting but more importantly a speech that clearly defined the man, his principles and the type of country he wants to fashion under a Conservative government.

Three things stood out for me starting with David putting our armed forces at the very beginning of his speech in committing our Party to giving them all the equipment and support they need. Whether you agree with the military action the current government has committed our troops to or not the one thing we all agree on is that it is a scandal they are not properly equipped to protect themselves and those they are being asked to fight for.

The next memorable moment was David's reference to his family year and to his wife in particular. The things politicians partners have to put up with are above and beyond any call of duty and we don't thank them enough. Our partners don't choose a public life but they put up with calls to the house at ungodly hours and us simply disappearing at a moments notice when someone asks for our help. I must admit to shedding a tear as David described the painful year his family had experienced before paying paid tribute to Samantha.

And I think the most memorable passage of his speech was the one that dealt with the scandal of those left in poverty by Labour's complicated systems. That a young mum working part time, trying to earn something extra for her family, pays 96 pence in every pound in tax and benefit reductions is simply scandalous. In Gordon Brown’s Britain if you’re a single mother with two kids earning £150 a week the withdrawal of benefits and the additional taxes mean that for every extra pound you earn, you keep just 4 pence. What kind of incentive is that? As David said, "Thirty years ago this party won an election fighting against 98 per cent tax rates on the richest. Today I want us to show even more anger about 96 per cent tax rates on the poorest."

Today I heard a speech from a man ready and able to be my next Prime Minister. The Conference slogan was "Ready for Change" and David Cameron is both ready and capable of proving our country with the change we so desperately need!

(watch David Cameron's full Conference speech at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00n8pyz/Conservative_Party_Conference_2009_David_Cameron/)

Calman welcome but still a lot of work to do to improve devolution!

The Calman Commission report makes many recommendations that will ensure devolution works better for the people of Scotland.

For example, it was terrific to see the Commission take forward David Cameron's suggestion that Ministers from Westminster should appear before the Scottish Parliament and, in particular, that the Scottish Secretary should appear before a Scottish Parliament committee immediately after the Queen's Speech in order to explain the impact Westminster's legislative programme will have on Scotland.

It is also good to see the Conservative Party committing itself to taking a long hard look at implementation of the Calman Commission's recommendations, including those relating to tax raising powers, through involvement on a cross party steering group.

Moves to make the Scottish Parliament accountable for the money it spends, by making it responsible for taxes that directly contribute to at least a proportion of its budget, will go some way to addressing allegations of subsidy from England and will ensure MSPs are held to account for their decisions at the ballot box. Implementation of devolution of tax raising powers must, however, mean the Scottish Parliament is forced to take the element of fiscal responsibility devolved to it by compelling it to use such powers. After all it has had powers over taxation for the past 10 years and has failed to use its ability to vary income tax up or down 3%.

A large number of questions about how devolved tax powers can be implemented remain to be addressed and that is why it is right for the Conservative Party to be involved in a cross party steering group to see which of the Calman Commission's proposals can practically be adopted.

The Calman Commission has been a very worthwhile review of devolution after 10 years. I believe we should make devolution work for the people of Scotland in the way they clearly believed it would when they voted for it back in 1998.

If devolution is not to prove to have been a series of stepping stones on the way to an Independent Scotland the application of recommendations put forward by this Commission must be carefully thought through and some may have to be discounted to protect and maintain the United Kingdom as a social and economic union through which we benefit no matter where we live. I am proud to be British and want to see devolution work properly for future generations.

The Truth About Boom & Bust

Have you ever wanted to see something simple that shows the underlying strength and underlying truth about our economy?

Let me help you!

Our stock market, in particular the FTSE 100, provides a fascinating insight as to how strong our companies are in good time and in bad. From Margaret Thatcher's election as Prime Minister in 1979 through to the end of John Major's premiership in 1997 the FTSE rose consistently - though admittedly with the odd peak and trough as markets reacted to national and international economic circumstances.

Having inherited a golden legacy, New Labour presided over a few more years of growth. There followed a massive correction in the market, between 2000 and 2003, before the FTSE shot back up to levels close to its peak through to 2008. The truth is that the markets knew the underlying strength of our economy was massively overvalued because our economy was based on a mountain of national and personal debt. What has followed over the past year is the product of a decade of borrowing in times of plenty instead of saving up for a rainy day.

So if you ever want to be able to show someone the truth about "Boom & Bust" show them this graph. The difference between good economic management and economic management based on rhetoric and debt is simply the difference between Conservative Government and Labour Government.

Let's hope we get back to some sound economic management before it's too late!

A Prime Minister for all of the UK

David Cameron's piece in Scotland on Sunday (http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/David-Cameron-I-would-govern.4958461.jp) clearly defined how a Conservative Government, led by David, will be different from the Labour administration, led by Gordon Brown, that is failing Scotland so badly.



It is a scandal that in difficult economic times our Prime Minister and First Minister have not met since Spring of last year. This only goes to show that Labour have no idea how to handle a nationalist administration at Holyrood. Their lack of appreciation of the need to be seen to be doing everything they can from London to help Scotland only serves to add to the nationalists media machines claims that Westminster does not understand Scotland and is doing little to help it now times are tough.

What Scotland needs, if devolution is to survive and quash the advance of independence, is a Westminster administration that treats Holyrood with respect and that works with it to benefit Scotland. Regular meetings between Prime Minister and First Minister, as well as communication between their respective cabinets, is essential to foster an atmosphere of trust between Westminster and the Scottish Parliament. This will also prove to the Scottish people that our place as an integral part of the United Kingdom is worth retaining.

David finishes his article by saying, "This commitment to true partnership between our nations sets the Conservatives apart from the other parties in Scotland as much as our commitment to modern, centre-right ideas. We are the only party that can bring about the change Scotland needs."


I could not have put it better myself!

White Stuff That Halts Everything!

A little bit of snow and the world, at least as far as the eye can see, seems to come to a halt.

Speaking to a friend in Canada today he laughed his head off at the thought of 8 centimetres of snow being anything other than good to look at. As he put it, they regularly have 6 feet of snow fall in a day and are able to get to their work the next day, to take part in leisure activities and to do so in relative warmth and safety.

As ever the reason is we are ill-prepared for anything other than a standard day and we really do need to take a good long hard look at ourselves and the preparedness of our local government to handle snow. If that means Council's investing in better snow clearing equipment and individuals ensuring they have snow chains for car tyres so they can move about safely (instead of skidding about as we watched so many cars do today on Seres Road) then that is what we all have to agree to.

I believe it is the CIA who have six P's as their motto - Plenty Practise Prevents Pretty Poor Performance. The trouble is that we, in the UK, so rarely prepared properly for anything!

Good News - Bad News

The news that Gordon Brown is to spend up to £200billion to bolster our ailing banks is very bad news indeed unless you believe it is 100% guaranteed to work! While it is right to do everything we can to avoid complete disaster it is wrong to take risks and gambles and to accelerate our national debt by an additional £200billion given he already intends to leave us owing £1.1 trillion by the end of 2011.

Could we be looking at bankrupt Britain? I very much fear we might be if the true level of toxic debt held by our big four banks is greater than the money now on offer. If it is they will surely go down - rendering our shareholding in them worthless.

If Plan B fails, (given this is his second attempt to bale out our banks), we should prepare ourselves for the IMF to declare us a basket case and to take over the running of our economy. The thought of external influences setting our levels of taxation, deciding how much capital and interest we repay to the world before spending anything that remains on the NHS, eduction or defence is simply frightening as a British patriot.



And what is the good news, I hear you ask? Well ,if there is nothing else to cheer me up before the Summer, I am to become a father for the first time in July - thanks to my beautiful wife Elaine. So, no matter how bad Gordon Brown makes the economy of our country and how difficult it becomes to make ends meet, I know there is something worth working for on the horizon and someone for whom I must fight to make our country better in the future!

Labour Are Ruining The Only Union That Really Matters!

It isn't Labour's arrogance that is ruining the Union. Nor is it simply their complacency. It is undoubtedly a combination of all the above, and their failure to provide any real leadership in promoting the benefits of our relationship with England, Northern Ireland and Wales, that is doing so much damage and placing the Union at risk.

Who can forget the claims of the Labour Party in Scotland that devolution would "kill nationalsim stone dead". George Robertson used to preach this mantra as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland in some sort of false belief that is you say something often enough it will always come true. Those of us who predicted the exact opposite, that devolution would give the SNP their best ever opportunity of moving Scotland towards Independence (effectively using it as a stepping stone) take no pleasure in having been proven right by events.

The SNP are not some sort of amateurish band of country bumpkins incapable of capitalising on gift horses. They are a very well disciplined and ruthless bunch of politicians who are as capable of being opportunistic as any other political organisation in Scotland.

As the current Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy is falling in to the very same trap as his Labour predecessors in attacking the SNP instead of making devolution work by establishing protocols and conventions that enable the Scottish Parliament to work with Westminster when the administrations of each are of different political persuasions! At the same time he writes blandly in newspapers about Scotland's strength being attributed to its place in the United Kingdom without establishing in print what this actually means.

Where are the statistics that prove more than 70% of all Scottish exports go to other parts of the UK? Where are the examples of Scots working to the benefit of the rest of the UK? Where are the references to the benefits that Scotland get from remaining an integral part of the United Kingdom? Because all this matters to the ordinary people of Scotland and the UK.

For me the Union is a marriage of four very capable countries who realise they are better off united by the common land and common principles their people share. It is only right to tell your partner what it is you do for them and to acknowledge their role in improving and fulfilling your life. Ask any salesman and he will tell you it is easier to sell the positives of your own brand than to decry the products and claims of your opponents. So why do unionist politicians continuously slate the case for Scottish Independence rather than sell the benefits of remaining part of the United Kingdom?

The failure of the Labour Party, and Jim Murphy, to make a positive case for the Union continues to put our countries long term future in doubt and that is something I, and the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party, must fight to ensure we champion.

Ping Pong's Coming Home!

Only Boris Johnson could represent London as he did tonight! The Beijing Olympics closed with a truly stunning closing ceremony to rival its Opening Ceremony - and all after a truly stunning Olympic Games for British sport.

Finishing fourth on the medals table, behind China, the USA and Russia, proves that our investment into sport through the National Lottery is both productive and worthwhile. Our sporting men and women became heroes for young and old alike and return with a haul of gold, silver and bronze beyond our wildest dreams on the 8th of the 8th 2008.

Even tonight the British played a massive part in the success of these Games. Our contribution to the Closing Ceremony let no one down and showed that the London Organising Committee have a distinctive concept as to how our Games will be staged.

Leona Lewis, David Beckham and Boris Johnson all represented the very best of British tonight and showed we can live up to the honours of hosting the Olympic Games.

Well done Team GB. Here's to 2012!

Our Shame!

The debacle that is trying to get Gary Glitter back to the UK and under strict control is rapidly becoming a stain on our countries good name throughout the world.

Glitter apparently wants to come back to the UK because he wants free treatment from our National Health Service for a heart condition, but he doesn't want to enter the country on our terms - preferring instead to seek to enter at his leisure. Our Home Secretary also apparently wants him back in the country to show us all her Government is capable of controlling people with vile personal preferences.

Around the world people must be asking why the British government was not able to plan getting Glitter back to the UK on his release from prison. It isn't as if we didn't know where he was for the past 3 years, (jail), and it isn't as if we couldn't have asked the Vietnamese government to give us a bit of advanced warning of his release to ensure we assisted them to deport this criminal from their land.

On his return to the country you would also have thought our Government would have made provision to force him into the maximum level of supervision possible under our law. Unfortunately this foresight does not exist in British government. Apparently Glitter has not posed a threat to children within the past 6 months because he has been in jail and as a result we cannot put him into the highest category of sex offender management. Instead he will simply be put onto the sex offenders register and will have to abide by standard offender management arrangements.

As I always say, if something is foreseeable it is avoidable. Gary Glitter should have been brought straight back to the UK and any loophole that enables him to avoid proper management of him in this country should have been closed. Our children deserve proper protection from this vile man and anything less than our best endeavours to ensure this is simply not good enough!

It's Time To Isolate Russia And To Deny Them Our Currency!

With the news that Russia is arming is Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads, for the first time since the end of the cold war, we should all sit up and take notice!

The reemergence of Russia as a military superpower is a terrifying development, particularly as it is funded by the West's purchase of their oil and gas. In other words we are paying for massive investment into nuclear technology designed to eradicate our way of life!

This is simply ludicrous! Despite the potentially massive impact onto our way of life it may have, we must stop purchasing oil, gas and other raw materials from Russia, directly or indirectly, in order to deny them the currency they require to continue the enlargement of the military they now threaten us with. We must get the message through to ordinary Russian's that we are happy to trade with them and to help them to prosper but not if they in return use our money to threaten us with obliteration!

In times of war the people of Britain have always been prepared to make sacrifices in order to ensure the maintenance of our way of life. Our refusal to purchase Russian fuel would probably mean tough times ahead, with power cuts and insufficient gas pressure available to heat households both possible. Nevertheless we must hit Russia where it hurts before they hit us with lethal force. Europe has been peaceful and successful for years without the threat of nuclear war and that is how it must remain!

A British Winner In An International World

During Wimbledon I wrote about Andy Murray's need to keep on winning if he wanted to make Britain proud of his achievements when everyone else was writing he needed to smile more to become a national hero.

By winning the Cincinnati Masters last night, (a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Novak Djokovic), Andy proved himself a winner of the very biggest grade of tournament on the planet short of a Grand Slam and someone the whole of Great Britain can be proud of at a time when we have very little to be thankful for.

With the Olympics and the US Open to look forward to over the coming month I don't expect to see a smiling Andy Murray on the international stage, nor do I want to see that. What I and the whole of the country want is gold medals and a British Grand Slam champion and if Andy can deliver that he can be as sultry as he wants with our blessing!

Why Glasgow East Means It's Time To Make A Positive Case For Our 'UNION'

I suppose it is only right to congratulate the SNP on their win in the Glasgow East By-Election.

Although I do so through gritted teeth, and with a heavy heart, it is true that they fought a positive campaign in the face of Labour propaganda that was almost entirely negative, ill-judged and without any heavyweight support visibly deployed to the constituency.

In contrast, the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party fought a positive campaign led by a positive candidate supported by a very positive Annabel Goldie MSP. Annabel's cancelled her holiday to stay in Scotland and coordinate our campaign and that our vote was not squeezed as you would normally expect any party in third or fourth place to be, (just ask the Liberals), is a testament to her efforts, alongside those of Davena and all our Scottish Conservative Central Office team.

I spent 10 years heading up the national sales team of a PLC operating across the whole of the United Kingdom. In that time I learnt that it was much more important to sell your own positives than to try and trash your opposition, with negatives about their brand, if you hoped to win any sizable business from the British people.

People want you to tell them why they should buy from you, not why you should not buy from someone else.

That is why Unionist Party's must get away from focusing on why Scotland should not be independent and concentrate instead on the many social and economic reasons why we should all remain together as a happy and harmonious UNITED Kingdom.

Thank You Britain For Our Aircraft Carrier Contract

Alex Salmond would have us all believe there would be no material difference to the Scottish way of life if Scotland were to achieve independence. What tosh!

The SNP are of course correct to suggest we Scottish are perfectly capable of governing ourselves if we wanted to and indeed to suggest we would make a good fist of it. But what they are not honest enough to admit is that the breakup of Britain would come at a heavy cost to Scottish industry, to Scottish jobs and to whole sections of Scottish society.

As just one example, there is the terrific news for Clyde shipbuilding that the United Kingdom government has formally signed contracts to buy two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. Because this involves procurement of strategic national importance to the UK government they are able to place orders with our own domestic shipbuilders without including foreign yards in full scale competitive tendering. In this instance that means job security for yards on the Clyde, Rosyth, Barrow and Portsmouth.

The two new aircraft carriers that are to be built will be the biggest ships ever to enter service with the Royal Navy at more than 65,000 tonnes each. The contract, signed on 3rd July 2008, guarantees more than 7,000 jobs across the UK and means we retain vital skills in our country for the foreseeable future.

Had Scotland not been part of the United Kingdom, with our proud tradition of supporting our Navy, there would not have been any likelihood of an independent English government placing an order of strategic importance to it with a Scottish yard. Indeed, were we not part of the United Kingdom I am in no doubt Scotland would not have a commercial shipbuilding industry of the type and scale we see today. Without Royal Navy contracts the Clyde's shipbuilders would have shut up shop long ago and in the event of independence, but for a few fishery protection vessels, I do not believe there would be frigate, submarine or aircraft carrier orders from a Scottish government to sustain a significant shipbuilding industry in the future.

Independence would dramatically reduce the size and capability of our armed services. Scotland would not procure massive aircraft carriers, would not need the jet fighters that go with them and our army would be a shadow of its current size given our relative irrelevance on the international stage. And yet, today, our armed services support the economies of whole areas of Scotland and play vital roles in the moral fabric of society as we know it. All this would be put at risk by independence and no one should be in any doubt that cuts to Scotland's armed services capability would occur within weeks of any divorce from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

So, unless I have missed something, the independent Scotland offered by Alex Salmond and the SNP would be detrimental to our armed services. We are a country of 5 million people talented and resourceful people but we would not need, and could not sustain, the number of army, airforce and navy personnel we currently support as nationals of a country with a combined population of 55 million+, even on a pro rata basis.


I am sure HMS Queen Elizabeth II and HMS Prince of Wales will be shining examples of all that makes our country GREAT!


Our two new aircraft carriers, built on the Clyde, will be glorious symbols of why we should be proud to be British and they should serve to remind us all of the benefits Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland gain from being part of a Union that delivers social, economic and strategic advantages - benefits we would not enjoy if we are force apart.

So thank you, my fellow British citizens, for our aircraft carrier contract. Together we will proudly defend our nation, while apart we would surely be shadows of our current selves, both at home and abroad!

A "BRITISH" Wimbledon Champion!

Well done Laura Robson!

Going in to this years Wimbledon fortnight none of us really expected to be talking about a British victory on Finals weekend unless we were appending the surname "Murray" to the victor, and yet today it is Laura Robson who has us celebrating a British win in terrific style!

Laura's 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win in this afternoons Girls Singles Final showed grit, determination and a typically British "never say die" spirit. Watching her composure and professionalism, both during the match and even after having won a Grand Slam tournament, I couldn't help thinking this young lady has what it takes to go all the way in the game.

It takes a unique blend of talent and dedication to breed a champion and I believe Laura will be a true British sports star for a very long time to come. So come on Britain, let's get right behind Laura, the Murray's and all our other elite sports men and women in the hope that they provide our young people with the inspiration not to waste their talents preferring instead to put them to good use!

A Positive Solution To The West Lothian Question!

Tam Dalyell is a man known for asking awkward questions - the answers to which few, if any, are able to find. So to answer Tam's biggest question of all who better than a 'big beast' of British politics to propose a positive solution.

Earlier this week Ken Clarke MP announced the result of his 'democracy task force', proposing a positive answer to Tam's 'West Lothian Question'. Ken's proposal, backed by David Cameron, is that MP's representing Scottish constituencies should be able to vote on the second and third readings of every Bill, even those that affect only English constituencies, but that were a Bill only applies to England its committee stage, during which MP's formally amend Bills, should only be considered by MP's representing English constituencies.

To those who are not aficionados of Westminster procedure this may seem like a very confusing proposal but to political hacks like me this seems to be a clever and elegant solution to ensuring fairness for England in this post devolution era.

Poll after poll, the overwhelming majority of Scots indicate they understand it is not fair for Scottish MP's to legislate on issues that only affect England when English MP's are not able to vote on the same matters for Scotland as a result of devolution. That is because we Scots believe in fair play, equality and in protecting our democracy!

Ken Clarke's solution would allow MP's representing Scottish constituencies to register their vote on every Bill considered by Parliament, preventing any allegation of the creation of a two tier system of MP, and will address the fundamental unfairness of Labour's devolution settlement in relation to its impact on democracy in England.

Thanks to Ken Clarke, I look forward to campaigning at the next General Election on the basis that, if elected, the people of East Renfrewshire can be assured I will represent them on every issue before the UK Parliament by voting on every Bill put before it. In doing so the people of East Renfrewshire will be able to judge me on my record and by ensuring this becomes formal Westminster procedure the people of England can rest assured the Conservative & Unionist Party will have provided them with a solution to the most difficult of constitutional questions by restoring fairness to their democracy, as they so rightly demand!

Dogs - Mans Best Friend or Offensive Animal?

I am widely quoted today, in national newspapers, following the decision of Tayside Police to apologise for using a puppy dog in an advert designed to publicise their non-emergency telephone number. This apology followed a complaint by a Dundee Councillor that this image is offensive to Muslims because dogs are considered to be ritually unclean in his religion.

I am in no doubt that the advertising agency who designed this advert did so on the basis that the UK is the most dog loving nation on earth. In our culture dogs are viewed as mans best friend and I am sure the ad agency simply wanted people to think of their local Police as mans best friend by using the imagery of one of their dog, 'Rebel', to advertise the Tayside Police force.

The British way of life means is happy to respect cultures from all around the world and to allow them to prosper in Britain alongside our own way of life. I am quite sure Andrex will not drop their puppy dog from advertising, packaging and branding and I am equally sure their toilet tissue will continue to be used by people of all religions.

Britain is a nation that know all about respect and we have the right to have our culture respected. 'Rebel' is simply a puppy dog training to serve his local community in our Police Force. He's a cute little thing and I am sure he will do a lot of good for the Tayside community, regardless of their religion!

Winning Is Better Than Smiling!

Andrew Murray is constantly being given advice by our national newspapers about how to win over the English public during this years Wimbledon championships. Unbelievably one daily newspaper even claims he need only smile more to ingratiate himself to 'Joe Public'.

Having beaten Richard Gasquet in a five set thriller tonight I think it is fair to say the best way to win over the great British public is pretty simple - WIN!


We love an underdog and a good loser, but what we really want to follow and support are determined winners.

So "some on Andy" keep up the good work and win one for Great Britain and make us all, including the English, love you as the British treasure you undoubtedly are!

The UK - Most Costly Place To Live In Western World

Reports today that the UK has the highest cost of living in the Western world come as no surprise to those of us working hard to make ends meet.

The firm of international economists who prepared this report concluded that the average "Middle Britain" family now spends £38,800 a year on its home, food and other essentials. This represents an increase of more than £2,000 a year on a report prepared by the same experts just 4 months ago.


And the reasons for this? Simply the failure of our government to manage our economy in a prudent manner. The cost of food has risen by 19.8% on last year, household fuel bills are up by around 15% on a year ago, mortgage repayment costs have escalated significantly, housing rent costs have followed suit and the cost of petrol and diesel for our cars has gone through the roof. All directly related to government policy!

And of course the government tax us more and more each year without a care as to how hard it is to make ends meet in the average household. No wonder ordinary people believe the government if out of touch!

Bravery Beyond Belief

Watching tonight's evening news I could not help but be struck by the professionalism and integrity of army personnel, even as they returned the bodies of comrades killed in battle to British soil.

Today has been a day to ponder the sacrifice of our armed services as they discharge their duties in order to protect Queen and country - regardless of the legitimacy and risk of the orders they are required to discharge.

As five bodies of soldiers from 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, were returned to RAF Lyneham in coffins draped in the Union Flag, I was struck that rather than attending the short ceremony to honour our war dead conducted by our service personnel Gordon Brown was announcing the deployment of an additional 230 British troops to Afghanistan at a press conference before the worlds media.

That our Prime Minister decided to make this announcement in front of President George W. Bush instead of making the initial announcement of this deployment to the House of Commons says much about his desire to be seen to be a big player on the world stage. It also shows his contempt for parliament and flies in the face of his pledge on entering No.10 that he is a man who wants to see an end to spin over substance.

Our armed services deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and in the finest traditions of British way of life. This requires our government to formally notify all troop deployments to the sovereign parliament of the country they serve with such pride first. The British people know that our brave service men and women conduct their duties to protect our shared values of democracy, the rule of law and mutual respect - and we should demand our countries Prime Minister shows them the respect they are due for putting their lives on the line to protect others.

So in summary, today was a day of mixed emotions. Pride in our armed services, and in their conduct as they returned fallen heroes to British soil, and anger at the lack of respect shown to them by our government. If you ever need to describe what is best about Britain look no further than our armed services to provide examples of dignity, pride and selfless service. They are brave beyond belief and for that we can all be proud to be British!