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Iraq

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. I know that he has visited Iraq in the past few weeks and was able to walk on the streets of Basra and see for himself the change in security in the town itself, as well as in the region more widely. I believe that the Defence Committee report will be regarded as an extremely important document. It shows that the training function agreed with the Iraqi authorities is working, and it shows the value of continuing that training function so that we can properly complete the task. I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that all the figures announced to the House were based on the best advice of our military commanders at the time. It is true to say that we could have reduced our troops further had it not been for the operation carried out by Prime Minister Maliki—which turned out to be the right way of getting the militias out of Basra—while at the same time, by embedding our forces with the Iraqi forces, completing the training processes in a better, more efficient and more expeditious way than before. As the Defence Committee's report shows, embedding our training groups in the Iraqi forces has been the right thing to do and has been very successful. We look forward to the day when, as a result of the all the advice and mentoring that we have been able to give them, the Iraqis can take over full responsibility for the security of all areas of Iraq. The negotiations on the long-term bilateral relationship between Iraq and the United Kingdom, which the right hon. Gentleman also asked about, will continue over the summer and autumn months. I hope that when the House returns, we will be able to report on their success. It is important to understand that the Iraqis want to receive support in a number of areas where we are giving specialist advice. The relationship will not be too dissimilar to one we have with other countries in the region, and it will be to the benefit of the UK, representing, as I have said, a further fundamental change of mission. I think that it is right for the Iraqis to have control over their own country's security, and it is also an acknowledgement, as the right hon. Gentleman said at the outset, of the great sacrifice made by British troops and of their professionalism and dedication. That is what has brought us to the point where we have been able to report progress today.