Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 8 December 2005.

Iraq: Police Force

Question: My Lords, John Reid, the Defence Secretary and the noble Lord’s boss, has recognised that this is frankly a serious problem. Sir Ronnie Flanagan has said that policing in the Basra area—in the four provinces that we are concerned with—is one year behind schedule. Is there not a need for some urgency to get a grip on this problem, which the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, has described? Can we afford to wait very long? Should not Sir Ronnie have been given every possible encouragement to deliver a very early report on the infiltration before it leads to more deaths and horrors in the Basra area?

Answer: My Lords, I think that January next year is pretty early. We have recognised, as my boss has said, that we have an issue—particularly in Basra—with the fact that certain elements have infiltrated the police force. We have a grip on this matter; Sir Ronnie is reviewing how well we are gripping it. We are going to see the results of his review at the end of next month. We will then review that and take the appropriate action immediately.

Secondary information