By Bagehot

BAGEHOT headed to the south west of England this week, to attempt something I have wanted to do for some time: report on the reaction of a single town to a single, hopefully representative military death in Afghanistan. The resulting piece would not claim to be a scientific study of current British public opinion, which—according to poll after poll—combines an intense, media-stoked sympathy for the troops with deep uncertainty about why they are still fighting in Afghanistan. Nor could it or should it amount to a tribute to an individual soldier. But, I hoped, by reporting a town’s reaction in some detail, and talking to some of those closely involved, I might be able to point to broad hints about the current mood, with the backing of direct anecdote from the ground.