I am rather Mrs Most Miffed at this stupid claim by the Joseph Rowntree trust that the army are 'glamourising' war.

Firstly, the armed forces aren't going to get lots of people joining, including for the huge number of jobs which aren't front line, if they have adverts saying:

'Join the army. The government pay you bugger all, treat you like shit and have closed down your military hospitals and the food spent on you is less than is spent on lags and you'll be risking your life and certainly your time with your friends and family, but come along anyway!'

Secondly, I think most people are fairly au fait with the idea that wars aren't the best places in the world to be.

Thirdly, lots of the opportunities in the armed forces are great and I've spoken to people currently serving or former forces who absolutely loved their time in the military and couldn't believe how lucky they were to get paid for it.

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust is a Quaker organisation which is "committed to a culture of peace and the creation of a peaceful world".

So the armed forces aren't going to do much right in their eyes, I wouldn't have thought.

Their comments that young people don't know what they want when they're older is hardly specific to being a soldier. If someone wants to be a doctor, they had better realise that pretty young because the qualifications needed are chosen at about 14 and there is an awful lot of work experience and volunteering to be done to get that place at uni to study medicine.

I also think that people are generally aware that if you're on a ship for a few years, then there's a chance that you may not see your wife and children or your friends and family for long periods of time. The biased media coverage on the fighting in Afghanistan for one would also highlight that it's no walk in the park.

But really. We need people to join the armed forces and statements like this just waste time. Really.