Oh yes, what conviction and purpose we had behind our Afghanistan offensive, and all these years later they are still using the same language, and the Afhans are still so impoverished that by our standards the diet of much of the population would be seen as equivalent to starving. And still we are no doubt spending more on ammunition than on giving them ways of improving their standard of living.

It is, of course, important that we find ways to accommodate those who come to us as refugees. Yet even though our 80,000 asylum claims a year may seem like a huge number, the problems involved in providing such refuge is as nothing compared to the scale of the problems faced in that area of the world with which we are now at war. But the Government needs our support for the action in Afghanistan, so Ministers, Prime, Foreign and Defence, are urging us to think back to the convictions and purpose behind the launching of our offensive.

Now I seem to remember at the start of the campaign much talk of humanitarian aid being part of the whole package, warnings that catastrophe would ensue, with millions starving if huge amounts of food weren’t delivered before the start of winter. What happened to that part of the plan? At the moment, it seems the only time we see food distribution centres in Afghanistan is when they have just been blown apart by high-tech missiles. That winter they spoke of as being too late, has almost arrived, and still the bombing goes on.

Of course, the other parameter to limiting the war, suggested weeks ago, was the start of the holy month of Ramadhan, in which Muslims traditionally refrain from fighting. Ramadhan begins in a couple of weeks time, when, for a month, Muslims all around the world will go without food and drink between dawn and sunset. In the short days of a Scottish winter, those hours are so few that there’s barely time to get hungry or thirsty, but just about enough to identify with those less blessed, going hungry all the time. The ministers should remember that their Muslim coalition partners have populations doing the same.

Mr. Blair says we are a “moral nation with a strong sense of right and wrong”. Perhaps a good way to show that would be to take a holy month off from warfare, and apply our attentions to the millions of Afghans who, like other Muslims will be going without food during the days of Ramadhan, but who unfortunately will have no food to break their fast at sunset. That’s the difference that turns fasting into starving.