---

NATO Summit

The right hon. and learned Gentleman overstretches himself in his peroration. On the first part of his question, I do not accept that the force was not properly configured; it was configured according to advice, and it turned out to be more than capable of doing the job. Despite the fact that that force met significant resistance and violence from a formidable foe, it overcame and overmatched that foe repeatedly, to the extent that there has been significant progress. In the past few months there has been a significant reduction in the violence in Helmand. It does our troops and forces on the ground no service to represent what they have achieved in a comparatively short period, against a formidable foe, as a defeat.