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Iraq (Basra Incident)

I echo most sincerely the words of condolence to the families of those who have lost their lives. This is certainly the news that all families of personnel on active service must dread. I entirely accept that it is unhelpful at this stage to speculate on the cause of the helicopter coming down. However, can the Secretary of State assure us that he will return to the House, when it has proved possible to find more information, so that we can have a greater discussion when we know the picture of what happened and the implications for our operations in southern Iraq? Can he tell us also whether it has been possible to secure the accident site satisfactorily in order to carry out the investigations necessary? Helicopter operations are intrinsically hazardous, and I suppose that such an incident could have occurred at any point in the past. Given that helicopters will play a vital part in our operations in Iraq and in Afghanistan, could the Secretary of State acquaint himself with the problem of the shortage of transport helicopters and trained personnel? Is he aware that the Minister responsible for defence procurement, acknowledged the 15 per cent. shortfall and said in answer to a question in another place that it might take 18 months for decisions to be made? Given the fact that the likely attrition rate of helicopters cannot be ignored, will the Secretary of State take steps to accelerate consideration of that issue? The Secretary of State referred to an exit strategy and he restated the objective. He said that the job is to assist the Iraqi Government and their security forces to build their capabilities so that they can take on responsibility for the security of their own country. I think that everyone shares and understands that objective. He said that achieving that objective is the strategy. With respect, a strategy needs to be rather more detailed and comprehensive than simply the desire to achieve the objective. If we do come back to discuss these matters again when a little more is known about them, will he undertake to bring a more detailed strategy so that Parliament can probe the progress that is being made, so that the British public can have an understanding of the progress that we think that we are making and so that the Iraqis understand it too? I welcome the Secretary of State to his new post and congratulate him on his appointment. It is regrettable that his first duty in the House should be in such tragic circumstances but, when he has had a chance to assimilate more information about the issue, will he return to have a broader debate about the progress that we are making in Iraq?