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Defence Policy

I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman. I asked Ministers, in fairly temperate terms, to clarify the position so that we can reassure people or explain the problems. If there are impediments, can they be overcome? I will talk about Afghanistan and Helmand province shortly. I know that other hon. Members have experienced the sadness of having to attend a constituent's funeral. Recently I attended the funeral of constituent Nicky Mason of 2 Para, and I want to acknowledge his bravery in the field. He was highly regarded by his fellow soldiers and popular in the community of Aveley. We salute him today. We hope that his sacrifice and that of his colleagues has not been in vain and will produce a better political climate in the region. The funeral brought home to me my obligations as a Member of Parliament. I say that because I cannot help but feel that a little while ago we as a Parliament failed in our duty. I remember when our green screens said that there was a statement by the Secretary of State for Defence and we came into the Chamber to hear it. I must admit that Helmand was not really on my radar screen, but we were told that we were committing our armed forces to that region. We can say with some pride that the United Kingdom stepped up to the plate in Helmand, but at the time none of us fully envisaged either the scale of the commitment that we were making or the absence of support from other countries. That troubles me a great deal. This week I asked the Secretary of State in a parliamentary question to indicate which of the 13 districts in Helmand province were under the control of the international forces or the Afghan army. His reply was that we had ““presence”” in a number of districts, but that was not the question that I asked. I asked which districts we controlled. Sometimes we need to be told the naked truth. The Government have a duty to tell us as a Parliament precisely, as of this afternoon, what we control and what ““control”” constitutes. Does control of a district mean a flag and a policeman in one of those fort-like places or does it mean something better than that? Some people are not prepared to ask difficult questions, so I repeat my questions to the Secretary of State: what districts do we control, which do the Taliban control and which are indeterminate, and what constitutes ““control””?