131 in a year
Total number of British Soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 331
There is sad anniversary tomorrow in Gwent. It will be exactly a year since Abergavenny soldier Private Richard Hunt died from wounds suffered in Afghanistan. His death attracted a great deal of publicity because he was the 200th soldier to die. It is alarming that a further 131 have been killed in the past 12 months. In the first five years of our presence there only 2 were killed in battle.
He was a former King Henry VIII Comprehensive School pupil and he had joined the army in October 2007. He was on his first tour with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh when he died days before his 22nd birthday.
His family have borne their grief with impressive dignity. They set up a charity to help injured Welsh soldiers and their families in providing them with anything from specialised equipment to holidays.
Their long-term aim is to open the family's farm to injured Welsh soldiers and their family members to use as a short break away from their normal lives.
Mrs Hunt told a local paper that the charity was helping the family through their grief "It's a very positive thing. You just feel like it's not all in vain."
The sooner all the soldiers are safely home the better.
Revelation
A friend has given me a 'scales falling from eyes' book.
It's the Carbon Fields by The Archers story editor Graham Harvey. His message is powerful, disturbing and convincing.
He argues that chemical farming is degrading the soil and risking our health with food that increases the risk of disease. The soil reacted like a drug addict. The more nitrates and other chemicals used the greater the soil loses its fertility and becomes dependant and even more chemicals. The author argues that it was grave error to move away from the rotation of crops that fixes carbon and other nutrients into the soil. We should return to food grwon on grass pasture not from animals fed on grains. The food is healthier and the threat of global warming is reduced as the soils are the greatest terrestrial reservoirs of carbon.
Harvey argues that healthy foods are those raised from grasslands not from animals fed on grain. Eating organic is a fisrt precaution but it not clear which food is produced on pastures. He suggest buying New Zealand Anchor butter and Argentine Beef.
The case is powerful one. I am hooked.
Sunday bilge
One Sunday paper tomorrow will shriek in mock shock at a new MP expenses shock. Prepare for a disappointment.
It's all hooey. They say that a Conservative Minister is among 23 MPs who have demanded £42,000 in refunds on allowances they returned after the Commons exes scandal. They say they are going to reveal the details of MPs who have bagged refunds ranging from fifteen thousand pounds to £4..
I can reveal one of them. It's me. But I have not 'demanded' or 'bagged' anything. The Commons wrote to me saying they had mistakenly taken £400 from me and asked whether I would like it returned. I told them I did as it was their mistake. This was all about four months ago.
At the moment the Commons/IPSA owe me more than £3,000 for delayed claims and for pension contributions wrongly taken from my salary. They have promised to pay me back on several occasions but have not got around to it. The system is now a lottery.
If the paper concerned is looking for another story on 'secret payments', I would happily supply them with details. I will not identify the name of the Tory politician or the Sunday Paper that's fallen for a non-story. It would only encourage them.