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Defence in the World

The Secretary of State will be aware that I take an interest in this issue and have pressed for action along the lines that my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Mr. Walter) mentioned. The Secretary of State will also be aware that a third of the world’s opium production comes from Helmand province, the very area in which we are trying to work. He will also know that the UK has G8 responsibility for the counter-narcotics strategy and he may be aware that the Afghan Parliament has passed a statute that allows the licensed production of poppy crops. I have evidence from a parliamentary written answer that we have a shortage of diamorphine in this country. It is not rocket science to work out that Afghanistan, which is the fourth poorest country in the world and is unable to get off its knees—