Given the fun we have here in Coffee House picking Gordon Brown up on factual errors, it seems only fair to cast our eye over David Cameron’s speech. One can argue his errors are made from ignorance rather than calculation, but errors are errors and have no place in a leader’s speech.
It is untrue to say – as Cameron did – “In Afghanistan the number of our troops has almost doubled but the number of helicopters has stayed just the same.” Not only are all the choppers which were there two years ago still there, but they have been joined by an additional unit of Sea Kings with new blades for the hot-and-high that cause the Chinooks problems. In total, the MoD say the number of helicopters in theatre is up 60%. Less than the troops, certainly, but one must take into account other factors such as an increase in productivity (more crews and spares means each chopper can be flown for longer).
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