Contrary to what Fraser Nelson argues, Britain is playing a major role in the military campaign against ISIL.
Our planes have been flying day and night, conducting 8 per cent of the strikes in Iraq rather than 5 per cent. But this isn’t a numbers game – the UK brings a qualitative edge.
The skill of our RAF pilots and the capability of our aircraft means the UK can conduct the most complex strikes – what is known as dynamic targeting. This typically means responding to an Iraqi unit engaged in combat with ISIL and in need of immediate air support as we did last week to help recapture Sinjar. We also have the Brimstone missile – a low collateral damage, precision weapon that even the US do not possess. It means we can strike accurately and we are not aware of any civilian casualties having been caused by the UK over the first 14 months of the campaign.
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