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Afghanistan

I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman's initial remarks, in which he praised the courage and dedication of our armed forces. I am also grateful for what he said about burden sharing, which must be—this is common cause among us all—an important part of the next stage. When it comes to vital equipment, I believe that it is possible to persuade some of our allies in NATO—and, indeed, some outside—to make a contribution where they have equipment that can be put on the ground. I am thinking particularly of countries that I have talked to in eastern Europe that have helicopters, which could be of great benefit as transport helicopters in Afghanistan. The right hon. Gentleman is right that that raises bigger questions about burden sharing within NATO and about the procedures that will be adopted in the future. I know from talking from the Secretary-General of NATO that when it meets at Easter to discuss those issues, burden sharing will be on the agenda. That might be the right time to consider both financial arrangements and equipment arrangements that move NATO forward from where it has been, to a system where there is far greater burden sharing built into the basic things that NATO does.