---

Iraq (Basra Incident)

I congratulate the Secretary of State on his appointment. As a former Secretary of State for Defence, I have no doubt that he will find working in the Ministry of Defence and with the armed forces both a privilege and a pleasure. With regard to his statement, I am less impressed than he appears to be by the announcement by the governor of Basra that he is willing to resume co-operation with our security forces. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is intolerable that, at a time when our armed forces are not only risking their lives but—as we have sadly heard today—losing them, that the governor of Basra and his colleagues should consider it a matter of choice whether they co-operate with British security forces? Will the Government impress on the Government of Iraq at all levels that unless we get the fullest co-operation from the Iraqi security authorities as a matter of course, it will be impossible to sustain a British military presence in that country?