Giant Leap still awaited

The notable quote at the time, and now, was 'One small step for Man, one giant leap for Mankind' or as Armstrong contests '“one small step for a man.

Men continue to make small steps but I am not convinced that we have yet made a giant leap. There have been huge technological advances but as a species mankind still has plenty of progress to make in learning to live with one another.

Last week saw the return of the bodies of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan. At the moment each day brings further announcements of deaths as a result of that war with accompanying statistics including, more than were killed in the Iraq war and first 18-year old British soldier to die in the conflict.

Liberal Democrats generally support the Afghan mission in order to stabilise Afghanistan and reduce the threat of terrorism to British citizens. Nick Clegg has however called the Government's strategy in Afghanistan 'over-ambitious and under-resourced'.

Things cannot simply drag on as they are. There has been plenty of publicity given to the army's request for better and more equipment. If British forces are to remain in this conflict they must at least be provided with sufficient equipment and resources to fight a better fight. Nick Clegg has asked the Prime Minister to commit the necessary resources, and set a reasonable goal for our forces. Military intervention can only ever be part of the solution and history has shown that this is even more the case in Afghanistan.

While conflicts such as that in Afghanistan continue, the position taken at the G8 on nuclear non-proliferation is to be welcomed. That decision does not however square with the Government's wish to rush ahead with renewal of Trident particularly in view of the tax deficit figures published today.