Hyndburn and Haslingden MP Graham Jones has questioned the success of Britain’s military campaign in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, he asked in the House of Commons: "Will the secretary of state give us some idea of the percentage of children who are attending schools in Helmand province as an indication of how successful we have been in the operation there?"

Liam Fox, the secretary of state for defence, replied accurate figures could not be given.

But he added: “What is clear is that, while we have taken a large amount of military equipment and money to Afghanistan, perhaps the most important thing that we have taken there is hope: hope for a generation who may be able to be educated and to have some economic capabilities of their own in the future, which events have denied to recent generations in Afghanistan."