i'm sure the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to ranger aaron mccormick of the first battalion who died on remembrance sunday. his commanding officer has described him as the epitome of the irish infantry soldier, tough, selfish, good humored and good compassion. he showed bravery leading the way in clear ieds for the safety of the civilians and his fellow soldiers. he send our sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. i'm sure the whole house would wish to join me in sending our warmest condolence to prince william and kate middleton on their engagement we look forward to the wedding itself with excitement and anticipation. mr. speaker, this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and in addition to my duties in this house i shall have other duties today. >> mark lancaster. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i associate myself with the prime minister's comments. the best piece of news with the unemployment figures is the rise of the unemployment count but small businesses are still concerned at both the cost of the bureaucracy of taking extra work

. >> in relation to the tragic death of the ranger aaron mccormick of royal regiment and his service and others will never be forgotten and many troops from northern ireland are serving in afghanistan and elsewhere. and can i also associate my right honorable friends with this expressions of best wishes to the happy couple, the royal couple and we wish them well for the future. and hopefully they will enjoy their visit in northern ireland in due course. can i ask the prime minister on afghanistan, committee give us an update on the training and equipping the service of the troops. >> the equipping and training of afghan soldiers and police officers is not only essential for the future of afghanistan. it's also the way in which we will be able over time to draw our own soldiers down and bring them home. we have the nato summit this weekend. that will be one of the most important issues on the agenda. i think the training mission is now being well supported. we're giving huge support but other countries are coming in behind us. in terms of the afghan army i think identity importance is

training afghan >> i am sure that the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to ranger aaron mccormick of 1st battalion the royal irish regiment, who died on remembrance sunday. his commanding officer has described him as the epitome of the irish infantry soldier. tough, selfless, good humored, and full of compassion." he showed astonishing bravery, leading the way in clearing improvised explosive devices for the safety of local civilians and his fellow soldiers. we send our sincere