I was honoured to be invited to the Chapel of the Royal Anglian Regiment and the Essex Regiment in Warley last week to be presented to HRH the Duke of Gloucester who was making an official visit.

Despite it being a decidedly damp and grey day the programme ran with military precision from the assembling of guests for a finger buffet lunch to the line up outside as the Duke arrived.

The visit was part of a Royal tour of Essex highlights, from the opening of the new Essex Young Farmers Headquarters in Chatham Green to the RHS Garden at Hyde Hall to Warley. Of particular interest on this occasion was the new altar frontal at the Chapel, which has been made by the Royal School of Needlework. This superb piece of embroidery was in stark contrast to the remnant of the 44^th Foot Colour from the first Anglo Afghan War in 1842.

Of course, Afghanistan is still a terribly current issue for many British soldiers and their families, and we all accompanied the Duke of Gloucester to the “Remember Me” rose bed outside the chapel which was dedicated two years ago to the nine members of the 1^st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment who gave their lives in Afghanistan in 2007.

British forces are in Afghanistan to ensure it does not again become a launch pad for terrorist attacks on the rest of the world. They are not there to occupy Afghanistan or dictate its internal affairs. Our goal is to help make it safe and secure, so that it can be governed by Afghans for Afghans.

Now that Hamid Karzai has been confirmed as President we look to him to deliver on law and order and the effective tackling of corruption. Since security is our definition of success, the sooner we get the Afghan Security Forces trained and on the front line, the faster we can bring our own troops home.