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Iraq (Basra Incident)

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his welcome. I am all too aware of the comparisons that will be made between my predecessor and me, and of what will be said about the skill with which he carried out his duties. I am a great admirer of my right hon. Friend who is now the Home Secretary—as, obviously, is the right hon. Member for North-East Hampshire (Mr. Arbuthnot)—and I think that he did an admirable job as Secretary of State for Defence. Despite the challenge that that poses, there could be no better person to follow. I shall observe the template that my right hon. Friend established for the job as far as I can, but I shall try to be my own person as well. Even in these early days, it is clear to me that the working relationship between my right hon. Friend and the right hon. Gentleman and his Select Committee was productive and supportive, if challenging. I hope to continue that relationship. The right hon. Gentleman asked me a question that, unfortunately, I cannot answer specifically, except to say that we are pleased that the relationship to which he referred has been remade against the plan that we had set out, despite the fact that this incident occurred in the past couple of days. That relationship will be a partnership, the whole purpose of which will be to sustain that relationship towards transition. I am sure that the challenges that the right hon. Gentleman set out are only too well known and accepted by those on the ground in Basra with whom we charge those responsibilities. The extent to which they have moved the position with the council and the governor, despite the pressures that must have been generated by the events of the past couple of days, is testimony to the robustness of that relationship.