Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Hurd of Westwell (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 23 March 2006.

Iraq: UK Forces

Question: My Lords, the Minister has been very helpful in explaining how the committee works. Is he really saying that, in all circumstances, the decisive and final view would be that of the Iraqi Government? Does it depend at all on the nature of that government—whether they are a government of national unity, which he says he hopes for and which we all hope for, or a government pursuing some purely sectarian policy? In the end, does not the responsibility for keeping or withdrawing our forces lie with Her Majesty’s Government?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord is right: we retain our sovereign right as the Government to make decisions on the deployment of our own forces. However, we have always said that we will stay in Iraq until the job is done. Our exit strategy is to leave at a time when there can be a handover from us to the Iraqi security forces. The decision about when that position has been reached in each of the provinces—I stress that the decision will be made on a province-by-province basis—will be taken jointly. We have not given up our sovereign ability as a contributor to that decision, but it is for the Iraqi Government to decide at what point they feel they no longer need our help in supporting the transition to government. I will answer the noble Lord’s question directly: we expect the creation of a government of national unity. They have to address the growing concerns that we have about increasing sectarian violence. We are optimistic that a government of national unity will emerge.

Secondary information