Ainsworth: We were 'possibly mistaken'.Byline: Les Reid DEFENCE Secretary and Coventry MP Bob Ainsworth Robert William 'Bob' Ainsworth (b. 19 June 1952) is the British Member of Parliament for Coventry North East. He is a member of the Labour Party. He is a the Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence. returned from his aborted a·bort v. a·bort·ed, a·bort·ing, a·borts v.intr. 1. To give birth prematurely or before term; miscarry. 2. To cease growth before full development or maturation. 3. family holiday to say the government was "possibly mistaken" in seeking to restrict compensation to two wounded soldiers. As we reported yesterday, he cut short his holiday abroad after just four days, amid a national outcry and growing concern over the Afghanistan war Afghanistan War, 1978–92, conflict between anti-Communist Muslim Afghan guerrillas (mujahidin) and Afghan government and Soviet forces. The conflict had its origins in the 1978 coup that overthrew Afghan president Sardar Muhammad Daud Khan, who had come to . Ministry of Defence figures yesterday showed British forces suffered their highest injury rate this month since the fight against the Taliban began in 2001, with 57 soldiers wounded in the first two weeks of July. Mr Ainsworth said the government had "possibly" made a mistake to seek to reduce payouts made by a pensions appeal tribunal Pensions Appeal Tribunal is a judicial tribunal in the United Kingdom having jurisdiction to hear and decide appeals against decisions of the Secretary of State in connection with applications for war pensions by former members of the military services. to the two wounded servicemen. The Labour MP for Coventry North east, pictured, said: "In isolation, it possibly was [a mistake], but we had to clarify the situation that we were left with the tribunal. "What I couldn't have is people with the exact same injury getting different levels of compensation and what I couldn't have is people with the most serious injuries not having that reflected in the payments that were made." There have now been 2,650 casualties in Afghanistan since MoD records began three years ago. This year, 61 have been "seriously" or "very seriously" hurt. As the bodies of three more soldiers were flown back into RAF Lyneham RAF Lyneham (IATA: LYE, ICAO: EGDL) is a Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, England. It is the home of all the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft of the Royal Air Force. The station is also home to No.38 Expeditionary Air Wing. , Wiltshire, the head of the Army insisted the Afghanistan mission was succeeding. But Chief of the General Staff General Sir Richard Dannatt called for the whole of Government to be put on a "war-like footing" to deliver support for troops and security for Afghanistan. In his last public speech before retiring next month he said: "I see Afghanistan as both a challenge and as an opportunity where we must succeed and, given the right commitment, we will succeed." On his most recent visit to the country he said he detected signs of hope among Afghan politicians, troops and citizens about the future. But, he added: "We should be under no illusion. We are at war and if we want to succeed, which we must, we must get on to a war-like footing." |
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