It was an obvious question, but one with no correct answer for the PM. Asked if it was “mission accomplished” for returning troops by The Sun, Dave couldn’t very well say no, yet might come to regret his bluntness:

“Yes, I think they do. I think they can come home with their heads held high.”

Quite what the completed mission in Afghanistan looks like, we do not know. Dave should have taken a page out of George W Bush’s 2003 Mission Accomplished speech, which banner aside, gave far more wriggle room:

“The war on terror is not over, yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. No act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve, or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to victory.”

Let’s pray that the line does not come back to haunt the PM.