The PM is having a tough week but it must be amongst the toughest for him to visit our troops at the sharp end and praise them. After a long period where Prudence kept her purse strings firmly tied on military spending and where the part-time Defence Minister strangled their work, to actually praise them, must have caused him real pain.

Just a small extract from his speech though is interesting:

Mr Brown spent 90 minutes at the camp, where he spoke with troops about their role in Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister told the troops from 16 Air Assault Brigade that they were in the front line against the Taliban and they were preventing terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.

Will these words come back to haunt him when the time comes - as it surely will - for him to have to bring the soldiers home? Could be he feels safe in this pronouncement as he is unlikely to be in power or have much influence when the time comes.