Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Hurd of Westwell (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 19 October 2005.

Iraq: Withdrawal

Question: My Lords, can the Minister clear up one point? Is it Her Majesty’s Government’s policy, as the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary seem to have been saying, that our British troops will stay in Iraq so long as the Iraqi Government require it, regardless of the nature of that government or their policies? Will he confirm what most of us have always supposed to be the position, that the deployment of Her Majesty’s forces overseas is and will remain a decision for Her Majesty’s Government?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord makes a very good point. The disposition of our Armed Forces is absolutely under the sovereign control of Her Majesty’s Government. None the less, we have been asked questions about our objective in Iraq. The objective is clear: it is to remain in Iraq in support of its transition towards democracy, in so far as we are asked to by the Iraqi Government, as that Government goes through the political process they are now undertaking.

Secondary information