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New Blackmore Vale, September 3, 2021
MPs’ round-up
Despite the tragedy, our sacrifices must not be forgotten August is normally a quieter time in the political calendar – a time when MPs are spending time in their constituencies and journalists scrape around for gossip stories for want of more substantial news items to cover. This summer, however, has been anything but quiet, with ongoing coronavirus considerations and the troubling events unfolding in Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan these past few weeks has been tragic, and it is clear there has been a terrible miscalculation in the withdrawal of allied forces. While many thousands of people have been safely evacuated on UK flights, my thoughts and prayers continue to be with the many Afghans who remain in their country.
Somerton & Frome MP David Warburton Many of us were moved by shocking scenes we have seen coming out of Kabul in recent weeks, which demonstrated the depth of desperation and fear felt by so many Afghans as the Taliban took control. We must collectively do everything possible to pressure the Taliban – by whatever means – to respect
the rights of all Afghan citizens. We have chosen to leave, and I believe this will prove to be a colossal mistake. It makes the West look unreliable in the eyes of our allies, and lacking resolve in the eyes of our enemies. But now, we must work together to prevent a humanitarian and refugee crisis – and the significant danger of presenting the Taliban with the space and means to consolidate antiWestern sentiment and escalate the threat to ourselves and our international partners. I know this is an incredibly hard time for our servicemen and women who have sacrificed so much over the past 20 years, including many based at RNAS Yeovilton and other nearby bases. Despite
the scenes we are seeing in our newspapers and on our television screens, I firmly believe that the sacrifices of our veterans have not been in vain. For the last 20 years our troops have kept Al Qaeda off our streets, drastically reducing the terrorist threat to the UK. But those 20 years were also spent building infrastructure for one of the poorest countries in the world and educating women and girls, with over 3.6 million girls in school this year alone who would otherwise never have an education. For this, of course, we must always remember the 457 brave British service personnel who laid down their lives in Afghanistan – their sacrifice will not be forgotten.
NATO’s failure will have repercussions Well! Let’s start with the fantastic Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show. For those who were able to attend, wasn’t it great to be back seeing old friends at an event? Huge thanks must go to show president Matthew Price and secretary James Cox for having the courage to decide to host the show when there were still clouds on the covid regulation horizon. It was, as many have commented, great to be back. It was also a great showcase, as always, for all things North Dorset and the surrounding area. The show serves to remind us, if reminder is necessary, that we live (and are fortunate to do so) in a farming area of great beauty. As I write, and certainly as you read, schoolchildren across North Dorset will be preparing to return to school or start a new one. My middle daughter begins her high school career
MP for North Dorset Simon Hoare at Gillingham and is excited about doing so. Parents of school starters will be caught by surprise by the tear in their own eyes as their little one trots through the school gate. I really do hope that all our school and college staff have had some time over the summer to recharge their batteries after the testing times of last year. Let us all pray that they can now deliver an uninterrupted year of learning and social development. n It was former US
Secretary of State Dean Acheson who said in 1962: ‘Great Britain has lost an empire but not yet found a role’. That was of course a few years after the Suez Crisis but when its implications were still being felt. The situation left in Afghanistan is horrendous and beyond shameful and the echoes of impotence that Suez and Kabul have thrown up are scary mirror images of each other. America appears to have reached a cross-party compact of inward-looking isolationism. America cannot be the policeman of the world but if she still wishes to be seen as THE global democratic superpower then she needs to realise that that with rights come responsibilities. Acheson’s comments quoted above it seems to be is now relevant to NATO. If, and at the moment it seems to me to be a big if, NATO is to have a relevance and power rather
than just an existence, logo and HQ then it needs to recalibrate itself such that it can act both jointly with, and independently of, America. However, to do this, European member states of NATO need to wake up and step up. They need to meet the 2% defence spending which only the UK, France and the States do. I’m told our Government tried to get the French and Germans, among others, to build a coalition to keep the evacuations going after the American withdrawal. Germany and France both have elections. Neither were keen to create to do anything that might rock their electoral boats. So shame was added to shame as the bete noire of ‘domestic politics’ got in the way of doing the right thing. I fear we in the West have no comprehension of what has been unleashed.
When possible, we’d like to give a voice to members of other political groups on these pages. Email newsdesk@blackmorevale.net
