Treatment of Alan Turing was “appalling” - PM

The Prime Minister has released a statement on the Second World War code-breaker, Alan Turing, recognising the “appalling” way he was treated for being gay.

Alan Turing, a mathematician most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes, was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration.

Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10 website which has received thousands of signatures in recent months.

Read the statement

2009 has been a year of deep reflection - a chance for Britain, as a nation, to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratitude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate - by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices - that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.

So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.

Gordon Brown

Brown’s decision on IRA victims’ compensation hard to justify - Davey

"Gordon Brown’s decision to leave this to the courts and not to make this an issue between Governments looks hard to justify," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary.

Responding to Downing Street’s comments on the issue of Libyan compensation for victims of the IRA, Edward Davey said:

“The Prime Minister is still failing to explain why he rejected the idea of the British Government negotiating directly for compensation for the IRA victims’ families.

“Everyone will wish the families’ legal teams good luck, but Gordon Brown’s decision to leave this to the courts and not to make this an issue between Governments looks hard to justify.

“The Government’s whole handling of UK-Libya relations over a period of years has now to be questioned in a wide-ranging Parliamentary inquiry.”

Defence resignation highlights Labour's failings

Liam Fox has reacted to the resignation of Eric Joyce – a key aide to the Defence Minister, saying that his assessment of Labour defence policy is "one that both service personnel and the public will recognise".

He said it is "extraordinary" that Labour ministers still don’t know what is going on at the Ministry of Defence, adding that they have had 12 years of "serial incompetence" in running the MoD.

Little fresh thinking in Brown’s Afghan speech says Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats:

“The situation in Afghanistan is on a knife-edge. Yet today we have heard little in the way of fresh, new thinking from Gordon Brown," said the Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Commenting on Gordon Brown’s speech on Afghanistan, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“The situation in Afghanistan is on a knife-edge. Yet today we have heard little in the way of fresh, new thinking from Gordon Brown.

“After pursuing an overambitious and under-resourced strategy for eight years it’s hard to believe that increasing the training of the Afghan police and army will now do the trick. We need a bolder change of strategy to turn things around. When it comes to Afghanistan, we need to do things properly or not at all.

“Despite the recent elections being plagued by fraud and low turnout, Gordon Brown has chosen not to take a stance on this issue. He must realise that a second round of elections is now necessary to ensure Afghanistan gets a president with legitimacy without which the conflict against the Taliban will be all the more difficult.”

PM MUST RETHINK NOT RE-STATE AFGHAN STRATEGY

Commenting after the Prime Minister delivered a speech on Afghanistan this afternoon (Friday) SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP repeated calls for a rethink of UK strategy warning that a re-statement of the mission was not enough to convince people that the best strategy was being pursued.

Mr Robertson, who visited forces on the frontline in Afghanistan earlier this year, has repeatedly called for a strategic review of operations and objectives.

Mr Robertson said:

“If Gordon Brown wants to convince people the best course is being pursued he must rethink strategy, not just re-state it. The fact is, the prime minister cannot convince his own MPs the best strategy is being pursued, never mind the public or our forces themselves.

“Gordon Brown does not seem to recognise that we need a major rethink to win hearts and minds here at home as well as the support of people in Afghanistan .

“That strategic review of operations must convince people that a proper strategy and proper objectives are being pursued with the likelihood of success. Right now people are not even sure that our forces are getting the equipment they need to do the job.

“The Taliban were meant to have been defeated eight years ago, but after operations exceeding the length of the Second World War, the fact that fighting has gotten worse underlines the folly of the Labour government's decision to take us into Iraq . Distracted by the Iraq quagmire, the government took its eye off the ball in Afghanistan .

“Now, the awful toll of military personnel killed in Afghanistan , along with questions over the legitimacy of the Afghan elections, has left people asking just what our forces are fighting for.

“It is time we had a major rethink that looks at all the options, and that will give people, not least our troops themselves, the confidence that the right strategy is being pursued and is achievable.”

PM outlines Afghanistan strategy

The Prime Minister has outlined the Government’s long term strategy in Afghanistan, promising more support for troops and a stronger focus on increasing the presence of the Afghan army.

During a speech at the Institute of International Strategic Studies, Gordon Brown said the more Afghans can take responsibility for security in the short term, the less coalition forces will be needed in the long term.

Mr Brown said British troops would speed up their training of Afghan forces and move to a partnership role, “living, training and fighting alongside them”.

But he said in the short term UK forces would also have to address the changing tactics of the Taliban, in particular the increased use of mines and roadside bombs.

The PM said the Government was committed to ensuring that British forces have the resources necessary to do their job and promised ongoing investment in helicopters and vehicles.

“We have since 2006 spent over £1 billion from the reserve on new vehicles for Afghanistan, including 280 mastiffs which offer world-leading protection against IEDs. Between November 2006 and April this year we increased the number of helicopter hours by 84 per cent - and on top of that, as well sharing coalition helicopters, we lease hundreds of hours each month from commercial operators for routine supplies.”

The Prime Minister said the Government would continue to work on shifting the focus of the Helmand economy from heroin to wheat production and that the UK would continue to invest in education for Afghan children.

The UK will provide an extra £20 million to help stabilisation and security in Helmand, including police training and basic justice, he said.

“In Afghanistan last week I was further convinced that despite the challenges we face a nation emerging from three decades of violence can be healed and strengthened; and that our country and the whole world can be safer; because together we have the values, the strategy and the resolve to complete our vital task.”

International economic watchdog warns UK is falling behind

Philip Hammond, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has responded to today’s OECD growth forecasts predicting that the UK will be the only G7 country not to see any growth this year.

"We will be the only major economy without any growth this year, and the only one for which prospects have got worse not better", he said.

He added that we were ill-prepared to face the recession because of economic and fiscal mismanagement on the part of Gordon Brown. "Far from being well placed to weather the storm as Gordon Brown claimed", Hammond said, "these figures show yet again that Britain is worse placed than our neighbours".

The OECD expects the UK economy to contract by 4.7 per cent in 2009 - even more than its last forecast of 4.3 per cent.

JOYCE RESIGNATION PILES PRESSURE ON BROWN

Commenting on the resignation of Eric Joyce as PPS to the Defence Secretary, Westminster SNP Leader and Defence spokesman Angus Robertson MP said:

"Pressure is mounting on Gordon Brown to treat our armed forces properly and reassess his failing Afghan strategy.

"Eric Joyce should have resigned a long time ago given the atrocious treatment our servicemen and women have endured from Labour over a long period of time.

"Since Labour came to power in 1997 they have cut the number of military personnel and bases throughout Scotland and his resignation just highlights that litany of failure."

Brown has to be straight with people about al-Megrahi

David Cameron has criticised Gordon Brown’s belated response to the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi

Cameron criticised the Prime Minister's claim that there was no "double dealing".

"We learnt this morning from the Foreign Secretary that a Government minister told the Libyans that the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary did not want Mr. Megrahi to die in a Scottish jail. But at the same time we know the Government was giving assurances to the United States that Mr. Megrahi would spend his full sentence in a Scottish prison".

He added that almost as serious as this was the double dealing with the British public, where "on the one hand Gordon Brown has completely refused to give his opinion on the release of this mass murderer but on the other hand was content for the Libyans to be told that he shouldn’t die in prison".

Cameron concluded by calling on the Prime Minister to "answer the questions that need to be answered" and to "set up an inquiry so we can sort out this mess once and for all".

150 top british employers backing young britain 85,000 opportunities pledged for young people

Over 150 top British employers have thrown their weight behind Backing Young Britain, a national campaign to create new opportunities for thousands of young people during the recession.

Government and employers are pledging an extra 85,000 opportunities for young people today. These range from Morrisons pledging new training for every one of its 36,000 employees under the age of 25, to Government providing help to get 45,000 young people into jobs in retail, tourism, leisure and hospitality.

There are also 5,000 new opportunities, including apprenticeships from companies including Centrica, Carillion and Royal Mail. Other employers backing the campaign, and pledging support include Microsoft, Bovis Lendlease, Pfizer and Phones4U.

The Prime Minister, Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper and top employers signed up to Backing Young Britain, met 250 young people at a Youth Summit at Birmingham City Football Club today.

Gordon Brown said:

"I am delighted that 150 employers recognise the value of Backing Young Britain and have joined the campaign. Together we can create thousands of opportunities for young people and ensure that the next generation gets its foot on the career ladder.

"This Government will do everything we can to help people who are suffering because of the global economic downturn. We know that people of all ages are being hit by the recession, but it is young people who can be most at risk and that's where Backing Young Britain can really make a difference."

Young people also took part in a panel debate with the Prime Minister and Yvette Cooper, hosted by BBC TV’s Anita Rani. Other members of the panel included Martina Milburn from the Prince’s Trust, Sam Laidlaw from Centrica, Imran Hakim of iTeddy and Jill Youds from Virgin Media.

In July, the Government announced the first 47,000 jobs from the £1bn Future Jobs Fund, which will create 100,000 new jobs targeted at young people.

The Government also announced 45,000 new training and support opportunities to help young people move into sectors that need new talent and have jobs to fill including hospitality, leisure, tourism and retail. In the last three months, over 70,000 vacancies were notified to Jobcentre Plus in retail alone, and the Government is working with industry to make sure young people get the chance to take up more of these jobs.

If young people are job ready, they will be helped into a job, with a financial incentive to employers who take them on. If they are not, they will get the training they need and then be helped to find work.

Yvette Cooper said:

“We will not lose a generation of young people to work because of the global recession. We already have over 150 of Britain’s top employers signing up to Backing Young Britain to create opportunities for young people. It is crucial for all of us that we make sure we do everything we can to harness the skills and talent of young people now so that we can all benefit in the future. We are acting now so that unemployment does not scar families, communities and the economy for generations.”

The Government also said that over 230,000 unemployed people have been helped into jobs through Local Employment Partnerships; with more than 25,000 employers signed up to work with Jobcentre Plus to help unemployed people back to work.

LEPs help employers to recruit more people, such as the long-term unemployed, for whom the jobs market can be particularly tough, and can involve such measures as guaranteed interviews, special recruitment processes, pre-employment training and work trials.

Young people will also get the help they need sooner: 18-24 year olds will be able to take up a new job from the Future Jobs Fund earlier – after claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for ten months rather than a year, from April 2010.

Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson said:
"Today's package of support for young people is a win-win situation for everyone. The benefits will be felt by the person who gets a foot on the employment ladder, the business gets a new addition to the team, and the country as a whole.

“Work experience, offering internships to graduates and investing in skills and training are vital to equipping young people and businesses with the tools to come out of the downturn in a strong position."

To find out more about how to join the Backing Young Britain Campaign visit www.hmg.gov.uk/backingyoungbritain

PM welcomes Zardari to Number 10

The PM has welcomed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Number 10 for talks on a range of issues including counter-terrorism, development and education.

Following today’s meeting a Downing Street spokesman said that security in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained a high priority for both governments. The Prime Minister also reiterated the UK’s pledge to invest £665 million over four years in programmes aimed at tackling the root causes of extremism.

Following the meeting a Downing Street spokesman said:

“The Prime Minister and the President agreed the need to tackle the underlying causes of extremism. The Prime Minister reiterated our support for Pakistani efforts and repeated the UK’s commitment, £665 million over four years. Our development programme in Pakistan is our second largest in the world; we aim to spend around half of this in the critical border areas.

“This requires a comprehensive approach including better governance, economic development such as a single financing mechanism, and when necessary appropriate military pressure.

“There was discussion and support expressed for our education programme. A programme announced back in April that focuses on the border area of Pakistan. In particular we announced that we will provide textbooks in the border areas for school children and that we would support 300,000 girls from poor families attending secondary school. More does need to be done and we have asked our international partners to step up and do more and follow up on the Tokyo Donors’ Conference which delivered $5 billion of pledges over the next two years.”

Brown’s Lockerbie comments a masterclass in evasion - Davey

Responding to Gordon Brown’s comments on the return of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi to Libya, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey said: “Gordon Brown’s comments on Lockerbie are a masterclass in evasion."

“When a decision is made by another politician, and has such grave international consequences, the Prime Minister’s refusal to say whether or not he supports it almost amounts to negligence.

“It is hard to see why he can’t tell us what he thinks of the decision to release a man who has been convicted of the worst terrorist attack in British history.

“As long as Gordon Brown remains silent on this issue, people will suspect he has something to hide.”

Gordon Brown’s silence on Megrahi absurd and damaging says Clegg

Speaking ahead of today’s statement in Holyrood on the release of Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: "It is absurd and damaging that the British Prime Minister simply remains silent in the hope that someone else will take the flak.”

“Although the decision to release Megrahi was a Scottish one for which Gordon Brown was not personally responsible, the fallout puts the UK at the centre of an international storm.

“In these circumstances, it is absurd and damaging that the British Prime Minister simply remains silent in the hope that someone else will take the flak.”

PM backs Twitter NHS support

The Prime Minister has added his voice to a Twitter campaign supporting the NHS.

Many Twitter users have united behind the message “we love the NHS”, adding personal messages of support for the health service via the popular social networking site.

Gordon Brown provided his backing via Downing Street’s official Twitter account with his own message which read:

“The NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there.”

Health Secretary Andy Burnham added that he was over the moon about the strong support for the NHS on Twitter, adding it was an “institution I will defend to my dying day”.

MPS ABANDON BROWN AS GOVERNMENT POSTS GO UNFILLED

LABOUR BELEAGURED AS GENERAL ELECTION DRAWS CLOSER

Reports that at least 12 Parliamentary Private Secretary posts have not been filled following June's reshuffle show how beleaguered the UK Labour Government has become and expose real apathy on the Labour backbenches says SNP MP Angus MacNeil.

PPS posts are normally filled by MPs looking to embark on a ministerial career but, as 12 go unfilled and the Prime Minister looks increasingly to the House of Lords for Government ministers, the shortage MPs willing to serve in the UK Government has been revealed.

The last parliamentary term saw a number of high profile PPS resignations and Downing Street have now admitted they no longer keep a comprehensive list of post holders.

Commenting on the reports, which appear in today’s Financial Times, Mr MacNeil said:

“Gordon Brown’s administration is an absolute shambles. There have been so many departures in recent months that Downing Street can’t even keep track.

“The Prime Minister has not only lost public confidence, he has clearly lost credibility within his own party as well.

“PPS is the first step on the government career ladder but Labour MPs no longer believe the climb is worth their while.

“It’s no wonder that even the payroll vote is abandoning the Prime Minister. In recent months, the UK Government has made a farcical attempt to privatise Royal Mail, tried to throw loyal Ghurkha soldiers out of the UK and threatened the Scottish recovery with £500m of cuts while pushing ahead with unnecessary vanity projects such as Trident.

"How can Labour ask the public to vote for Gordon Brown, when their own MPs don't even want to work for him?"

Pot calls kettle black: sod orf and mind your own business Mr O!!!

I read an article today whilst perusing Yahoo! News called Obama: Cameron has no substance and I found myself somewhat irritated.

It wasn't so much because he was criticising David Cameron for being without 'substance' or Obama put it, just 'sizzle'. David Cameron in my view is without 'substance' but he is better than the current man who Obama seems to consider is full of 'substance' but no 'sizzle'. I would certainly agree that Brown is lacking in 'sizzle' but I am not seeing the 'substance' either.

The man he seems to admire the most however is Tony Blair who according to Obama has 'substance' and 'sizzle'. Forgetting for the moment that Tony Blair started two wars with the man (George Bush) who Obama slated all the way through his election campaign for that reason amongst others, it is difficult to see where the 'substance' is.

Under Tony Blair's government, the education, prison, social services, transport, health, political and financial systems have either failed or are in serious disrepair. We are currently in the middle of an economic depression and two illegal wars in which allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses are rife against us. Unemployment is high, crime has risen, cocaine is as common as water and we have the highest teenage pregnancy, knife crime and alcohol rates in the civilised world. Where is the 'substance' again please Mr Obama?

I'm not even convinced about the 'sizzle' which in my opinion is more like 'slither' in Mr Blair's case if you ask me. Mr Obama appears to be heading in the same direction as Mr Blair though in the 'substance' leagues. From what I can gather he hasn't done much either and a good example is his promised closure of Guantanamo Bay. Wasn't this supposed to be done by now? Oh yes, I seem to recall that it was. If 'substance' is defined as inactivity and a huge advertising budget to win an election then Obama and Blair are definitely peas in a pod and should be left to play with each other's 'sizzle' and 'substance' until their hearts are content.

What made me mad though and I mean jump up and down, red faced, 'Yosemite Sam' crazy was that this chap, who is yet to do anything much other than perfect shaking the hands and slapping the backs of other world leaders is arrogant enough to think that he can influence the UK political landscape. Does he think that he is that popular or important over here that he can swing an election? I think he does. That's a bit worrying. Maybe he's been taking some of this 'substance' he seems to be obsessed with himself. Where can I get my hands on some?

I think that when old 'sizzle chops' Cameron himself wins the election by default we will be presented with a perfect opportunity to step back politically from the US and its overconfident leadership. Hasn't it always been America's arrogance, and overconfidence leading to its complacency that has gotten it into trouble time and time again in the past. Yes, but maybe it'll learn one day.

Until then...sod orf Mr Obama and kindly mind your own business in future! Oh and by the way...anyone who uses words like 'sizzle' or 'substance' to criticise other human beings is probably a little lacking in both himself. Find a thesaurus while your at it and try to find some better adjectives (describing words to you Mr O) to use in future .

Fox attacks Labour for suppressing defence review

Liam Fox has called on the Government to publish the Bernard Gray review on defence procurement immediately.

The Shadow Defence Secretary stressed the review was a “damning indictment of twelve years of incompetence”.

And he warned, “By trying to suppress this report, the Prime Minister has demonstrated that he cares more about the reputation of Labour than he does about the wellbeing of the Armed Forces.”

Liam stressed the Government has “a moral duty” to ensure that our Armed Forces have the equipment they need – but he warned that instead we have “a catalogue of bureaucracy, incompetence and timewasting”:

“Gordon Brown, as Chancellor, was never willing to fund Tony Blair’s wars; now that he is Prime Minister, he is trying to cover up his mistakes.”

Liam highlighted the importance of holding regular defence reviews, and said that a Conservative government would legislate, if necessary, to ensure that they happen in every Parliament.

The not so enchanting tale of Brownocchio and Honest John the Banker

Once upon there was a puppet who dreamed of becoming a real PM. The problem was that the puppet was a very bad but prolific liar. He lied about everything and thought that he was too clever to be caught. He was also convinced that he was a bit of a guru when it came to economics and he was friends with a crooked banker called Honest John.

This Honest John also told the puppet that he was really good at economics and showed him a good time when the economy was going well.

When the economy collapsed however and the banker was broke, the puppet gave him all his money to help him out of trouble. He made a bit of a mistake though because he didn't even ask the banker to stop all of the bad things he did to make the economy collapse in the first place.

When the banker started to make money again he didn't want to pay back the money and he continued to do all the bad things he was doing before. He wanted to pay all of the money to his real friends who were also pretty crooked. He also decided to ignore the puppet and withdrew his support. He sent the puppet away turned him into an ass. The puppet tried to escape but he was swallowed by a giant whale...

...and we all lived happier ever after...

...well after the blue fairy came to power, banished the crooked banker and redistributed the power and the wealth fairly amongst the people. Ah well, one can but dream.

SNP SEEK ASSURANCES OVER ELECTION TV DEBATES

The SNP is seeking guarantees that the party will have a place in any UK-wide TV debate between party leaders ahead of the next General Election. The party’s election campaign co-ordinator Stewart Hosie MP today (Sunday) confirmed that he would be writing to broadcasters to make sure that the party would be part of any UK-wide broadcast.

Mr Hosie said:

“Scotland has a long tradition of party leader debates, and it is high time that we had them at UK level for the next General Election.

“Peter Mandelson has raised the issue again, and although it might have made Gordon Brown choke on his cornflakes when he heard it, the political parties and broadcasters should seize the initiative.

“And the broadcasters must meet their obligations to audiences across the UK – and so that would have to include Alex Salmond’s participation in any election debates involving Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

“We are obviously prepared to be flexible about options for the format, but the broadcasters’ public service obligations require them to be fair to their audiences in Scotland, and indeed Wales.

“Both the SNP and Plaid Cymru are now parties of government, the polls indicate we are aiming for substantial success at the General Election, and our voice must be heard. We will certainly be writing to the broadcasters at an early stage about this issue, so that they can be in no doubt about the position.”

Gordon Brown calls for commemoration of troops

The Prime Minister has said it is time to commemorate the British troops who have died in Afghanistan as he signaled an end to the first phase of Operation Panther’s Claw.

Speaking from Scotland, Gordon Brown praised soldiers who have taken part in the offensive to push back the Taliban.

He acknowledged that it had been a difficult time for the troops but said they had succeeded in protecting thousands of local civilians and people in Britain.

The PM said:

“Now that Operation Panther’s Claw has shown that it can bring success and the first phase of that operation is over, it’s time to commemorate all those soldiers who have given their lives and to thank all our British forces for the determination and professionalism and courage that they’ve shown.

“What we have actually done is make land secure for about 100,000 people. What we’ve done is push back the Taliban - and what we’ve done also is to start to break that chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of Britain. And I’m very proud of what our forces have achieved over the last few weeks - indeed for all the time they’ve been in Afghanistan.”

He said that Britain’s strategy in Afghanistan was still to undertake military offensives to remove insurgents and to build up local institutions to allow the Afghans to take control of their own affairs.