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Counter-Insurgency (Iraq/Afghanistan)

Not entirely, but my hon. Friend was suggesting that ““next war-it is”” was an issue that we should be concerned about. She is right, but clearly we face a more complex world than we did before. Let me turn to Afghanistan and Iraq. There will always be a trade-off between mobility and protection. General Johnny Holmes said to me that the light can go heavy, but the heavy cannot go light. That was quite a salutary lesson to learn and we can apply it in this case, but we do need to provide our troops with the maximum protection. I alerted the former Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (John Reid), when I returned from an armed forces parliamentary scheme visit to Iraq in 2005 that we were in grave danger of having completely inadequate equipment to deal with improvised explosive devices. He assured me that he was already on the case. My hon. Friend has been absolutely stalwart in arguing the case for the V-shaped hull. The recognition by the Ministry of Defence that that was needed was too slow. The Government's response was too slow, but my hon. Friend has been utterly consistent on that issue and has been proved right by virtue of what has been happening in theatre. We have all seen the Mastiff in operation and it is undoubtedly an excellent piece of kit. The hon. Member for North Durham (Mr. Jones) and I enjoy a friendship across party barriers, but I think that he is right to say that commanders in the field require a range of options. My hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer) and I were in the compound at Lashkar Gah when his former regiment returned. I can tell hon. Members that it was very interesting to see the huge respect with which those who had served under the leadership of my hon. Friend greeted their former commander when they saw that he was at Lashkar Gah to meet them. However, the need to be mobile and able to leap off and on kit means that people cannot go around exclusively in Mastiff vehicles. The Jackal is an extremely exciting new development. My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton is right about the problem of protection on the Jackal and she is even more right about the problem of protection on the Pinzgauer Vector—the driver sits right over the wheel, and the wheel is the part of the machine that activates the IED. The Vector has a role to play, but not in a dangerous theatre such as that which we are discussing. My hon. Friend did not refer to unmanned air vehicles, but that is an area in which much more needs to be done. UAVs are already playing a prominent role, but they could play a more prominent role. I think that my hon. Friend would say that rather than having the most expensive, most sophisticated UAVs, we should be considering cheaper options. In my constituency, QinetiQ is developing something called Zephyr, which is a UAV for very high altitudes. It looks like something from a balsa wood kit. It is operated using solar panels and is doing a fantastic job. It is still in research mode, but I hope that the Minister will tell us what is being done to harness UAVs to provide better reconnaissance and, for example, to be able to identify disturbed death, because if we can identify disturbed earth, we can see where IEDs may be being laid. My hon. Friend referred to lower-cost turboprop aircraft. I think that the Minister knows of my affection for the Pilatus PC-21. I would very much like to procure that superb aeroplane for the Royal Air Force one day—that is why I keep looking at the opinion polls with such enthusiasm. I shall be flying the aeroplane next month at the royal international air tattoo. My hon. Friend is on to something here: we need to consider more practical equipment. I will just give a warning, though. New kit such as that going into theatre requires defensive aid suites to be fitted and they do not come cheaply. We cannot just stick a Tucano or other turboprop aeroplane into theatre and say, ““That's it.”” Quite a lot of amendment work has to go on. Essentially, what my hon. Friend is talking about is a brass, not a gold, solution, so I think she is right. My hon. Friend mentioned helicopters. The Government have been caught napping on that issue. They cut the helicopter budget by £1.4 billion in 2004 and the result has been disastrous. We simply do not have enough helicopters. We have bought six Merlin helicopters from the Danes, but I understand that the floor of the helicopter is completely unserviceable for our use and will have to be subject to further adaptation. It is appalling that further action has not been taken to ensure that we have more helicopters. It is not as though this situation came on us suddenly, as a surprise; it has been obvious for a long time that we need more helicopters. My hon. Friend the Member for Newark is right about the shortage of manpower. He said that the armed forces, particularly the Army, were in a parlous state. I will just add to his other points that there is too much reliance on overseas recruits because we cannot recruit from the United Kingdom and therein lies a damaging prospect for the British Army. Representing Aldershot, I know that people are resigning because they cannot take the constant tempo of operations. Even if they can, their families cannot. That factor needs to be taken into account. Time is limited, Mr. Pope, and we will be able to resume the debate next week, but I wish to make five brief observations. First, we require a defence review. It is essential that we have one, and that is what my party will be putting before the people at the next election. Secondly, we need flexible equipment that is capable of subsequent adaptation, depending upon changes in circumstances. Kit must be designed with the prospect of needing to adapt it. Thirdly, the system of urgent operational requirements works extremely well, but it does not dovetail into the main procurement programme. We should migrate the excellent swift decision-making process that applies to UORs into the main procurement programme. I believe that that is absolutely essential, and I am working on it now. Fourthly, the Government should tell us what they are doing about UAVs, because there is a life-saving capability. Fifthly, where are we on FRES? A number of hon. Members mentioned it; perhaps the Minister can tell us. Finally, my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton says that there will be no money at the time of the next election, when the Conservative party hopes to come to Government. I assure her that I am conscious of that fact. I am also conscious that a huge bow wave of commitments is building up in a wide range of areas. In particular, the British people are going to have to acknowledge our growing commitment to the war wounded. They are not yet visible to the health service; but they will become increasingly visible and will add hugely to the defence budget. That, I believe, is not fair; it should come out of another budget. However, that is for the shadow Chancellor to decide.