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Iraq

I join the right hon. Gentleman in thanking our armed forces for their professionalism and dedication. I think it true to say that no Ministers have come to the House more frequently to make statements about the developing situation in Iraq than have I, the Defence Secretary and the Foreign Secretary, on occasion. I also believe that we have kept the House fully informed of what is happening, by means of written answers and other statements. I am pleased that the Defence Committee has published a report today, to which I shall return in a minute. I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that we want to press ahead with the economic development of Basra, which includes the provision of electricity and water. As I have said, 800,000 people have electricity and 1 million have water, but more money has been pledged both by us and by the other organisations involved. I also agree with the right hon. Gentleman that we will need a legal basis for continuing our presence in Iraq after December this year, and that is precisely what will be discussed in the negotiations in which the Defence Secretary and our commanders will engage with the Iraqi Government. Of course, as the right hon. Gentleman would expect, when I met Prime Minister Maliki at the weekend I discussed exactly that issue, and how the talks would move forward. The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the figures relating to troop numbers. We completed the first stage of the reduction in numbers from 5,500 and 4,500, but it was right to pause when the advice on the ground was that Prime Minister Maliki and Operation Charge of the Knights were intent on excluding all the militias from Basra. We wanted to give, as did the American forces, the support that we could to what was a successful operation—and now recognised to be successful—to exclude the militias from the area of Basra. It was right to learn the lessons of Charge of the Knights, which were to take into account the pressing need for further training of the Iraqi army. So nearly 1,000 troops a day are now working with the Iraqi army, embedded with it and doing a great job—I met them at the weekend—advising, mentoring and preparing it for taking over greater responsibilities in the future. We have now agreed a new set of tasks that the British Army will work with the Iraqi army to complete. We made the right decisions to come down from 5,500 to 4,500. I said at the time—the right hon. Gentleman did not give the full quotation—that we would take the decisions that were necessary"““in the spring of next year—and guided as always by the advice of our military commanders””.—[Official Report, 8 October 2007; Vol. 464, c. 23.]" It was right to pause the reduction in numbers. If any evidence is needed to that effect, let us look at today's all-party Select Committee on Defence report, which says, as a result of those two changes that were made—those on the Opposition Front Bench should recognise that—that"““We were enormously impressed with what we saw in Basra””." The report continues:"““The UK MiTTs””—" the military transition teams, which we brought in after Charge of the Knights—"““are doing an excellent job in enhancing the capacity and self-sufficiency of the…Army. Their work is vital to the future of the Iraqi Security Forces and…to stability in southern Iraq. The ""contrast with what we saw last year is stark and profound, and the MoD must continue to support the MiTTs in what will inevitably be a medium-to long-term project.””" The decisions that we made on the advice of the military commanders on the ground were the right decisions. I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman wishes to make political capital out of them, because it was right not only that we reduced the numbers at the time we did but that we paused so that we could support Operation Charge of the Knights. It was right that we changed our tactics so that we were in a position to embed our troops in support of training the Iraqi forces. It is also right—this relates to the final questions that the right hon. Gentleman asked—that we work to a long-term bilateral relationship with the Iraqi Government. The discussions were about how we can give bilateral support to the Iraqi forces over a period of time. We will complete the work at Basra airport soon, and we hope to hold local government elections in the near future. The economic development plan will be published with the support of the British Government and funds that we are providing, and the work of training the forces will be completed in due course. It is right, therefore, to move to what is a change of mission, and that is a new bilateral relationship with the Iraqi Government, which I hope all parties in the House will support. Finally, I have already said that this is not the right time for us to consider an inquiry. The troops are there; we have 4,100 troops on the ground. The whole focus of the Ministry of Defence is on completing the work that we have started. That is the right position for the Government to be in.