IN last week's Review, 'A Forester' asked about UKIP policy on our involvement in Afghan­istan.

The position of the Forest of Dean Branch is that we should withdraw our troops immediately. We do not believe that it enhances the security of this country.

In fact, our domestic security is far more threatened by the radicalising of large numbers of the British Islamic community, who object to our presence in a Muslim country.

The only reason that British troops are in Afghanistan is that Tony Blair chose to wed this country to American foreign policy. The Tories supported it at the time and continue to do so to this day. The Taliban have no interest in exporting their ideology and merely wished to be left alone in their own country. The Tories are desperate to get out without losing face and admitting that all the deaths and the money expended have been a monumental waste.

– Richard Leppington, UKIP, New Road, Bream.