Mary Macleod, local Member of Parliament, along with several other cross-party MPs, visited Camp Bastion last weekend to see progress being made in Afghanistan.

The aim of the visit, as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, was to meet deployed soldiers, understand better the key capabilities of the campaign and to discuss the challenges leading to transition at the end of 2014. The group flew to Camp Bastion in Helmand Province on a C17 from RAF Brize Norton on Friday morning. Whilst at Camp Bastion, the MPs had a range of briefings on strategy, equipment, reconstruction and the transition plan. They met locals in an Afghan village and spoke to British and US service men and women, from the Army, Royal Navy and RAF.

On her return, Mary spoke about how incredible the experience had been in getting exposure to the scale of the task involved and the excellent work that out armed forces are doing in creating security and peace in a difficult region.

Mary commented: “It was an amazing opportunity to meet with British forces in Afghanistan and see the outstanding work they are doing to create stability for the future. The process of transition will take some time but much work has already been done, working in collaboration with our allies, to build and train the Afghan Army. Attacks from the Taliban have already reduced by 80%.

“Much progress has also been made on delivering real change to local people in their daily lives. Under the Taliban, there were 1,000 schools, now there are 14,000 schools. There were one million students under the Taliban (no girls), now there are 8.3m (with 3.2m females). 8% of the population had access to healthcare under the Taliban, now it is 60%. Infant mortality has reduced by 20% and from a country where little communication was allowed, there are now 77 TV stations and 175 radio stations.

Mary said, “The campaign in Afghanistan is definitely heading in the right direction and we can achieve the right outcome there by the time that transition is complete.  We can help, support and train those living in Afghanistan, to create a long lasting legacy that will deliver a future of peace, stability and growth.”

Photo:  Mary with UK Commander, Brigadier Sanders DSO OBE and Brigadier General Sheren-Shah Kobadi (Afghan Army)