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14/06/2010
UK 'Steady On Afghanistan'
As one of the latest British soldiers to die in Afghanistan has been named by the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox has again said UK troops would stay until Afghanistan was "stable enough".
L/Cpl Andrew Breeze, 31, of the 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, died in a blast on Saturday in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.
The soldier, who was from Manchester and part of 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles Battle Group, died following a security patrol - making a total of 295 UK military personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
However, the Government will not "lose our nerve" in fighting the Afghanistan war despite budgetary and political pressures, Liam Fox has said.
He agreed that the UK faces "daunting" challenges, some resulting from Labour's "mismanagement" of spending, and promised to try to get "better value for money" when buying equipment.
In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute Dr Fox said "hard-headed decisions" were needed, with the Ministry of Defence needing to become "more efficient".
But, speaking about the war, Dr Fox said: "We cannot allow Afghanistan to be used again as a home for terrorists...
"It [the war] remains our top priority. And the people in theatre will get the best support possible.
"This is no time for us to lose our nerve and we must find the language to persuade the British people to stay with us."
(BMcC/GK)
L/Cpl Andrew Breeze, 31, of the 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, died in a blast on Saturday in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.
The soldier, who was from Manchester and part of 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles Battle Group, died following a security patrol - making a total of 295 UK military personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
However, the Government will not "lose our nerve" in fighting the Afghanistan war despite budgetary and political pressures, Liam Fox has said.
He agreed that the UK faces "daunting" challenges, some resulting from Labour's "mismanagement" of spending, and promised to try to get "better value for money" when buying equipment.
In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute Dr Fox said "hard-headed decisions" were needed, with the Ministry of Defence needing to become "more efficient".
But, speaking about the war, Dr Fox said: "We cannot allow Afghanistan to be used again as a home for terrorists...
"It [the war] remains our top priority. And the people in theatre will get the best support possible.
"This is no time for us to lose our nerve and we must find the language to persuade the British people to stay with us."
(BMcC/GK)
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