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Defence Policy

That contribution is not worth replying to, because I am dealing with the actual facts and the Conservative Front Bencher was trying to paint a picture that is not actually the case. It is important not to run down and criticise dedicated members of the armed forces and the NHS who are working in difficult circumstances. I wish to concentrate on two areas. The first is current operations and the second is the welfare of the armed forces and their families. I have visited Iraq now on five occasions. I voted for the invasion of Iraq and I will defend that decision until the day I die. It was not an easy decision for me, or for many hon. Members who voted for the war. I took that decision on the information that was presented to me at the time and if we all had crystal balls, politics would be an easy profession. I have seen a deterioration in the situation in southern Iraq, but progress has been made and pulling back to the airport is the right decision. However, there are some serious questions to be asked about what we do next. Although I accept that the withdrawal and reduction in numbers is welcome, I am not sure how long we can sit at the airport and to what military purpose. I suspect that the solution in southern Iraq will not be military: we passed that point quite a long time ago. The solution will be a political one and, as the Prime Minister said the other week—and we should not underestimate this factor—an economic one. Some of the regional players need to play a part in that. I have visited Afghanistan three times in the past two years, and I agreed totally with my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth, North (Sarah McCarthy-Fry) when she said that it will be a hard slog. It is important not to merge the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is convenient to do so, but it is important to keep them separate. Is the situation in Afghanistan challenging? Yes, it is. Have we made mistakes in the past? Yes, we have, and some of them were political. The impression given when we moved to the south was that it would be an easy operation, but that was never the case. Giving that impression may have been a mistake in terms of the debate. Progress is being made, and I have seen that on the three occasions that I have visited Kabul. It is also being made in the north, in Mazar-i-Sharif, where reconstruction is taking place. However, if we are signed up to this project for the long term, we—and I mean not just the governing party—must recognise that it will be a long process and that there are no quick wins, although there are some wins, as explained admirably by my hon. Friend. I agree with the comments made earlier that we should not look at Afghanistan without taking into account what is happening in Pakistan. As my hon. Friend the Member for Midlothian (Mr. Hamilton) said, it is important to recognise that Pakistan’s Government are taking tough steps to try to bear down on the Taliban. Ultimately, the solutions to some of the problems will not be military. It might be unpalatable, but ultimately, in certain areas, we may have to do deals—not with hardcore members of the Taliban or al-Qaeda, but with some tribal leaders in southern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. People might disagree with that, but ultimately if we are to defeat hardcore Taliban and al-Qaeda members, that is the approach that needs to be taken in southern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. As I say, I have visited Iraq and Afghanistan in the past few years. If I am asked, ““Do you hear individual complaints about things?”” the answer is yes; we always do, as was said earlier, but we have to recognise that the story has moved on. We still read about shortages of body armour and protective vehicles, and we heard comments on those subjects again tonight. However, people who go to Iraq and Afghanistan now will see that the Mastiff vehicle is in theatre, is saving lives and is very popular among members of the Army. Body armour is available in large enough quantities, and it is proving very effective. We should not get stuck in a time warp, as we do in some debates on the subject. Every time that I go to Afghanistan and Iraq, I ask commanding officers and troops about equipment. As my hon. Friend the Member for Midlothian said, we hear very few complaints about it. Obviously, we hear complaints about various other things, and we try to take those points on board and feed them back to the Ministry of Defence. There are plenty of armchair generals telling us how to win in Afghanistan and Iraq, but the people, and certainly the senior generals, to whom I have spoken never have the idea that the Government have not stepped up to the mark when it comes to providing equipment. The press tries to give the impression that this naughty Labour Government are trying to prevent the equipment that generals are asking for from going to Iraq and Afghanistan, but I have never met a senior general in either of those countries who has told a member of the Defence Committee, ““The Government are not providing x, y and z.”” On the urgent operational requirements that we have met, we have purchased some very good equipment with our £2 billion, and with the £1 billion for force protection. That is important to remember. It is interesting to see the game that is being played by the Opposition. I have to say that it is what all Oppositions do; we did the same when we were in opposition. The Opposition can call for more money, but they never work out how they would spend it. It was sad that the hon. Member for Woodspring started off on the subject of defence spending by discussing it as a percentage of gross domestic product, but would not say what his figure for defence spending would be. I am like my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, South, who was obviously a bad influence on me when I was first elected: I always argue that more money should be spent on defence. However, I would not give the military a blank cheque that we should just forget about. As for some of the criticisms that senior generals such as General Dannatt make of the defence budget and how we spend it, while they say that we are overstretched, they live in palatial accommodation, and have members of the armed forces serving at their dinner tables or working in their garden. General Dannatt flies around the UK in helicopters while arguing that there is a shortage of helicopters in Afghanistan. I know how much it costs me to travel to Durham every day, but when General Dannatt went earlier this year, it cost him over £2,000, because he went by helicopter and private jet. If we are to home in on the constraints of the defence budget, senior generals need to think about how they conduct themselves.