"The coroner was unequivocal. The last four soldiers to be blown up in a Snatch Land Rover in Afghanistan were unlawfully killed. They should not have died, and did so because they were inadequately equipped. By now, this must surprise nobody. It certainly would not have surprised those troops themselves. As the Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner David Masters reminded us yesterday, their commanding officer had requested a different vehicle for the mission, only to be told that none was available.
Corporal Sarah Bryant, Corporal Sean Robert Reeve, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin and Private Paul Stout were killed by a roadside bomb in 2008. Not only were they driving in an inadequate vehicle, but equipment shortages had also led them to be equally inadequately trained in the detection of exactly the kind of bomb that killed them. To be more specific, a lack of mine-detectors meant that many troops left the UK with no training in their use whatsoever. Once on their bases in Afghanistan, they were forced to seek informal instruction from their peers. Some troops gave evidence that their training with an Ebex mine detector had lasted under 20 minutes. Others said they had been forced to figure it out for themselves, with a manual.
Gordon Brown could not have been surprised by the coroner’s verdict on Snatch Land Rovers, either. In Afghanistan last weekend he announced that 200 new heavier vehicles would finally replace them. This sounded like a better pledge that it was. For one thing, the Conservative Party has claimed that there was an earlier plan for 400 vehicles, and Mr Brown’s announcement represented a reduction. For another, the timing was both suspiciously convenient in terms of the coroner’s inquest, and at least five years too late in terms of the military need."
"I accept that the training regime was not as good at that stage as it should have been."
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