The war in Afghanistan is not worth one more life and Britain should withdraw immediately, Lord Ashdown has said...it was "crystal clear" that the West had lost the war and that "the only rational policy now is to leave quickly".

"It is not worth wasting one more life in Afghanistan....  The only outcome of staying longer is more deaths for no purpose; most of them now caused not by the enemy in front of our troops, but by the enemy among them."...

"The main thing to do now is leave as quick as we decently can, providing as much protection for our friends as we can, in the best order that we can and with as much of our equipment as we can," he said.