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Ministry of Defence

I am aware that the Conservatives, with some honourable exceptions, voted for the war in Iraq. Does the hon. Gentleman not agree, however, that that was a war of choice? It was very different from the wars that we had fought previously, especially those that preceded the second world war. At the time of those wars we had a defence policy that was a policy of defence: war was a last resort. Is the hon. Gentleman now declaring himself to be in favour of wars of choice? Does that mean that if—God forbid—the Conservatives ever won an election and the hon. Gentleman arrived on the Government Front Bench, we would be entering into wars of choice throughout the globe?