---

Foreign Affairs and Defence

That is a fair point. The Government of Iraq are not seen to be representative of the entire population. They exist within the green zone in its strongest form; in the rest of the country, their writ is patchy. Perhaps the most effective forms of government in Iraq are to be found in the Kurdish regions in the north of the country, and I suspect that, in the foreseeable future, there will be serious and legitimate demands for total autonomy, if not outright independence, for those regions. Iraq dominated the last Parliament and it will dominate the present one and international affairs until such time as we recognise the necessity of setting a date for withdrawal by British and United States forces.