Wootton Bassett

If you've ever needed any proof that the government and the British people are two separate entities, then look no further than Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire - the little town that has become world famous for its unplanned and, until now, unrecognised acts of remembrance.

I, along with countless others, admire these towns’ people who don't come out to line the streets for publicity or because of the cameras; they come out because they feel it is their duty as a British citizen. Nobody expected this and it only came to the media's attention this week when 8 British soldiers lost their lives in Afghanistan.

But look deeper into this story and you undoubtedly start to ask the question.....184 dead in Afghanistan....What are we still doing there? Well the bog standard government answer is the following..."These people are fighting for our freedom and safety, by sacrificing theirs." Is this strictly true? The soldiers are definitely sacrificing their safety, what with the lack of equipment and seeming ease with which the Taliban can penetrate armoured vehicles, but are they fighting for our freedom?

It appears that the government are rallying back to the "good old days" when we were plundering the empire and the threat of the Nazi war machine was trundling across Europe...But times have changed - the empire is gone and the Taliban can at best manage to plant a bomb on a bus...they are hardly accomplished soldiers. Instead of investing the £9 billion and 184 lives it has cost to stay in Afghanistan, in homeland security such as airport security, port controls, ID cards etc - they would rather ensure these troops stay in the ONLY place in the world where Taliban soldiers are considered "experts of combat". Of course they know where to plant bombs and hide from the British - they have been brought up there. Meanwhile the British must hunt for needles in underground hay-stacks whilst dehydrated from not being used to the environment and unprotected due to lack of equipment.

We all think the solution is to bring them all home where they can be protected by British law, yet I would love to know what Gordon Brown is thinking by (a) keeping troops there and (b) pumping more money into equipment. It would be cheaper to bring them all home and give them all £10,000 in rewards for their service!

We shall see how many more Wootton Bassett parades it takes for the government to re-align themselves with what they were elected for...to represent the best interests of the British public and not to alienate themselves by listening to Macho military advisers who, for an unknown reason, still believe that the UK still has the duty of policing the world.