I have gradually got used to the fact that when I talk about West Dorset in Westminster, a rather far away look is likely to enter the eyes of the person at the other end of the conversation. Although it is not quite the same as talking about Timbuktu, there is an element of similarity.
But the remarkable thing is that this is asymmetrical. People in the world out there may not have a very definite idea about West Dorset; but people in West Dorset repeatedly prove that they do really know and care about what is happening in the big world.
We saw this vividly when the tsunami occurred. All over West Dorset, people mobilised in the most amazing way to contribute in kind and cash to the rescue work. From schoolchildren to businesses, the whole of our rural community entered into the spirit of the thing and did its bit.
I have the sense that exactly the same is true when it comes to the troops who are fighting for us in Afghanistan. Kabul may be a long way from Dorset physically – but it is thoroughly present in people’s hearts and minds.
And, of course, there is every reason why this should be the case. There are lots of people in West Dorset who have very direct connections with the brave young people who are bearing the strain. Perhaps because of the strong local military tradition, many of us know people whose sons or daughters are out in Afghanistan – and there are many more with relatives that soon may be in this position.
I had a stark reminder of this the week before last.
I was sitting in Parliament on the Wednesday morning, talking to David Cameron about Prime Minister’s Questions, when I got a call from a constituent. He told me that his son was involved in the Territorial Army and that the amount of paid training had been reduced for his unit, even though the unit in question was destined to go to Afghanistan next year.
Barely believing that this could really be the case, I rang his son and was able to verify the story completely.
The result was that the subject was raised at Prime Minister’s Questions by David Cameron just a few hours later. So here was a case of rural West Dorset having its fingers sufficiently on the pulse to know what was really going on in the Territorial Army, and how it related to the risks run by volunteer reservists going over to fight in Afghanistan.
Since that time, I have become more and more concerned about the whole issue of our Territorial Army and the way we are treating it. It seems to me that an enormously important national resource is being diminished at the very time when we need it most – and all for the sake of 0.05% of the defence budget.
Somehow this, along with the failure to provide adequate numbers of helicopters and the sometimes rather shabby treatment of the men and women we are sending into battle, speaks to the heart rather than just to the head.
This is not just because so many people in West Dorset are directly affected by these things. It is also because the values of West Dorset reflect something deep in the value-system of the country as a whole. In the end, what is causing so much feeling is not simply the sight of young men and women dying and being wounded but the sense that the way they are being treated isn’t really an example of fair play.