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Armed Forces

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness on securing the debate. I am sure that she is very gratified by the number and quality of the speeches that we have had and by the serious way in which this debate has been addressed. I was very pleased that she put her concerns in context and acknowledged that there have been problems for a very long time, including under her Government. We should not forget that many of the problems that we are addressing are historic in nature, as is a great deal of the problem that we have on defence expenditure. The contributions that we have had have been serious and informed. I respect the views of those who have spoken, even if I cannot accept them all. I will endeavour to respond to much of what has been said, but it would be impossible to respond to every detail. Where people have asked me to write, I will. I hope to respond to some of the themes that have run through the speeches, because certain key areas concern many Members of the House. I start by stating this Government’s gratitude—the debt of gratitude that we all have—to the members of the Armed Forces and those who support them around the world, in particular the service men and women who are based in Iraq and in Afghanistan and who are playing an indispensable role, despite very difficult and dangerous circumstances. They can be justifiably proud of what they have done to help the security and stability of those two countries and, along with many who have spoken this afternoon, I pay tribute to their professionalism and commitment. I will say a few words about Iraq to start with. The noble Lords, Lord Chidgey and Lord Astor, talked about the extra contributions that we would like to make in different places. We are working in Iraq with a very significant commitment, which we hope will decline in the not-too-distant future. There have been problems, as the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, mentioned. He asked me about paratroopers and the availability of Challengers for training. I am told that 318 are available for training, so that should not be the problem that was indicated to him. He is welcome to come back to me with any other aspect of that matter. We have now handed over three of the provinces to Iraqi control. Iraqi forces have now taken on the primary role of providing security in Basra city. As the Prime Minister of Iraq confirmed on 29 October, the transfer of Basra province to Iraqi control will take place in December. That will be the last province within the British-led area to transition. This is a very significant achievement and we should be proud of what has happened there, even though our Armed Forces are still facing a difficult job in training and mentoring the Iraqi security force. Adjustments to the number of UK forces in Iraq are based on conditions and not on arbitrary timetables, as other Ministers have said in the past. This approach has allowed us to reduce the number of our forces in Iraq and gives us hope that we can further reduce our force levels in southern Iraq to around 2,500 from spring 2008. But we still have an important job to do. We will honour the commitment that we have made and remain in Iraq until we, the Iraqi Government and our coalition partners are confident that the Iraqi security forces can operate without our support. Several noble Lords mentioned the situation in Afghanistan, where we are deployed in support of a UN-authorised, NATO-led mission: the International Security Assistance Force. ISAF is there to support the Government of Afghanistan as they seek to extend their authority across the entire country, which is necessary to improve security and facilitate development and reconstruction. Our Armed Forces have already contributed significantly to moving the country from a pariah state that harboured international terrorism to one that is making progress in development. The noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, asked about the relationship between anti-terrorism activity and rebuilding a country. From our point of view, it is clear that in order to combat terrorism developed in that country, you have to help in reconstruction. The two go hand in hand. We acknowledge that it is a long-term commitment but we are determined that Afghanistan should not be allowed to become a failed state again. The noble Lords, Lord Astor and Lord Chidgey, mentioned that it would be helpful—and, I think, only reasonable—if other countries undertook their fair share of that burden, because that has not necessarily been the case in the past. A great deal of this debate has concentrated on spending and the defence budget. I was advised in a very friendly way not to mention the settlement, but I have to confirm that it was 1.5 per cent in real terms. I mention it because I need to point out that this is the longest period of sustained real-terms growth in planned defence expenditure since the 1980s. That is no mean achievement and something that we should not dismiss. Noble Lords may want us to spend more but they must recognise that there has been a very significant increase in the recent past. This new spending allows us to proceed with two new aircraft carriers. They will not be built in France, as the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Inge, suggested, although we will discuss the matter with the French because they have an interest in having a similar facility. We are also investing a great deal in issues that concern families, as many noble Lords mentioned in terms of the covenant. I will say a word about—