"An ill-prepared rush"

The media today has been full of accounts of the coroner's verdict on the tragic death of Captain James Philippson during the evening of 11 June 2006 in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

But the coroner, Andrew Walker, has a history of grandstanding, and seems to revel in his reputation as the scourge of the MoD – his florid use of language out of keeping with the dignity of his office. Thus do we get from Walker the accusation that the MoD betrayed soldiers' trust by sending troops to Afghanistan without basic equipment. He is widely cited as saying that, "totally inadequate" resources led to them being "outgunned by a bunch of renegades".

His comments, and those of the media, are very far from the truth. See, once again, how an important story is completely distorted.

Posted on Defence of the Realm.