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Iraq

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement, which is interesting in that it was a statement by the Secretary of State for Defence. I understand why the Minister is responding to this debate. Inevitably, however, the questions and discussion have moved further away from the Armed Forces than perhaps they should at this difficult time for them. My reading of the Statement is that the Armed Forces will be expected to stay there pretty well at the current level, albeit the job may change somewhat. Do the Minister and the Government recognise that the Armed Forces have been committed way above defence planning assumptions for a considerable time? There is no reduction in the likely requirement for effort in Afghanistan. It will not conceivably be possible to continue at the current level of overseas deployment without lasting damage to the Armed Forces. I hope that the Government will take that into account in the Armed Forces’ long-term interest.