Penny Pinching

Gordon Brown, currently presiding over Labour's complete destruction, is facing more criticism- this time stemming from his time at Treasury.

Brigadier Ed Butler, the highly-respected officer who led UK forces into Helmand Province in the summer of 2006, told MPs how a 'Treasury-imposed cap' left him with just 3,350 personnel to confront the Taliban.

That was only enough fighting power for 'one significant operation a month' - and not enough to cope with extra battles or unexpected strains, he told the Commons Defence Select Committee.

Things were so bad due to the cap that there were only eight helicopters available for the forces- at a time when many of the roads were considered too dangerous for traffic.

In the event, the Paras and other soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade found themselves besieged in camps across northern Helmand, fighting almost constantly for days or weeks at a time and critically short of helicopters to bring in ammunition and food.

Sadly, this has been all too typical for the armed forces under Labour- being asked to do more and more for less and less.