Charlotte Leslie Backs Continued Afghan War

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I was interested, though not particularly surprised, to notice that our local MP, voted this week to support the UK's ongoing war in Afghanistan.

The motion,

"That this House supports the continued deployment of UK armed forces in Afghanistan"

represented this Parliament's first opportunity to debate the war since the general election.

It is unfortunate that support for the British troops who are putting their lives on the line every day in Afghanistan tends, under the terms of the current debate, to be only expressed by calling for them to stay and fight.

My own view is that they would be even better supported by being withdrawn from a conflict that is ill-conceived and un-winnable.

Speaking from an American perspective, I notice that a former member of the US national Security Council apparently agrees with this view.

The motion was carried by 310 votes to 14.

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The Future's Bright - the Future's Satsuma

Oranges are not the only fruit, and what is more, they are in decline.

For the third year in a row, orange consumption has fallen among British consumers, according to market researchers TNS, as the younger generation opt for easy-peel satsumas and tangerines with their packed lunches.

Oranges still remain popular - over 600 million were consumed last year - but it is children and the over 45's who are the fruit's biggest fans.

Consumption of satsumas rose 35 percent over the past year to about 460 million and the number of tangerines eaten rose by 60 percent to over 62 million.

So, to prepare for the coming wave, here are seven things you may not have known about satsumas:

• originating in China, their original name was "mikan", meaning "Honey Citrus of Wenzhou"
• they are recorded as being eaten nearly 2,500 years ago in China
• their English name came from the Japanese province where many were grown before being imported into the United States - Satsuma Province
• three US states - Florida, Louisiana and Alabama - have towns named Satsuma
  
• In 1906, the Japanese navy launched a battleship called the Satsuma
• The Satsuma rebellion took place in the C19th
• There is a type of plum called the satsuma plum which has red flesh and red skin

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