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Political heavyweights: Ministers forced to postpone Afghanistan visit because 49inch body armour was too small
Last updated at 11:38 AM on 3rd November 2010
Two politicians have been forced to postpone a visit to Afghanistan because the Ministry of Defence do not have body armour big enough to fit them. Lord Maginnis, who tips the scales at 18-stone, and Northern Ireland MP David Simpson, who is 17-stone, had been scheduled to visit Irish troops on Monday. But the pair were forced to abandon their plans because the protective body armour required for everyone visiting Afghanistan only goes up to 49 inches.
XXL problem: David Simpson and Lord Maginnis were supposed to be visiting troops from Northern Ireland in Afghanistan
Perfect fit: David Cameron and Gordon Brown had no problem with their body armour during visits to the bad lands of southern Afghanistan
A statement from the MoD said: 'Nobody is allowed to board an aircraft to Afghanistan without correctly fitting body armour. 'The MoD provides a wide range of sizes but regrettably none was suitable on this occasion. 'We recognise the importance of MPs visiting Afghanistan but this trip has been postponed while we try to source sufficiently sized body armour.'
Despite the fact that politicians are not expected to have similar fitness levels to serving soldiers, politicians regularly visit theatres of conflict without problems. A spokesman for the MoD said this was not a common issue: 'Is it a regular occurrence? Not that I'm aware of, no.' Lord Maginnis, 72, of Drumglass, was said to be furious with the decision and claimed the MoD would have made allowances had it been the Prime Minister in the same situation.
He said: 'Does it mean an 18st Prime Minister wouldn't be able to visit? Someone decided we weren't important enough to bother.' But the MoD spokesman said the pair's political status was not the issue, adding: 'The Prime Minister can actually fit into the body armour he is given so we haven't begun to hypothesise what would happen if he suddenly ballooned to 18st.'
