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Foreign Affairs and Defence

I agree entirely with what the Secretary of State has said about that matter, but I draw to his attention something else that has arisen. I was talking to a brigade commander yesterday. He tells me that he is doing what I know the Secretary of State wants and what the Army commanders want, which is to go out to try to build a connection with local communities. He arranged a press conference to publicise with others the fantastic initiative by Oxfordshire county council, but apparently the suits told them it could not be done. Things are being decided, I suspect in the Secretary of State's name; there is a fear that a local initiative will not be taken without ministerial approval. Can he delegate some of his authority to the people on the ground, because otherwise damage is being done to the things that he and I believe should be done?