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Defence in the World

The hon. Gentleman makes some good points. I grew up in Herefordshire and would like to pay tribute to the Special Air Service, which has taken significant casualties in terms of loss of life and injuries. The House recognises the major contribution of the special forces and the Special Forces Support Group, including the Special Boat Squadron, which has played and is playing a significant part in Afghanistan. I am glad that the city of Hereford is recognising the excellent and significant contribution of the Rifles. I was in Basra palace in Iraq the day that some of the infantry and light infantry regiments became 2 Rifles. The Rifles have taken significant losses even over the last few days and weeks. The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that the case has to be made time and again, and it is incumbent on all of us as MPs to make the case in our constituencies. The media must also ensure that their reporting of the war is fair and balanced and takes on board the comments of Members who have visited Afghanistan many times. The media in this country and others have sadly lost colleagues in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we pay tribute to those journalists who are prepared to go on the front line to report back the very issues that we agree this evening need to be reported to the British public. On Argentina and the Falkland Islands, I am glad that the Secretary of State made it absolutely clear that the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is not in question and that there is no dialogue or negotiating going on with the struggling Government of President Kirchner in Argentina. I am also glad that reference was made to the Government's resolve to ensure that the military garrison on the Falkland Islands is staffed up to the levels that would be required to ensure that the right message is sent back to Buenos Aires. I would not expect the Minister to comment but I hope also that the appropriate level of naval protection will be sent or is in the area, including submarine protection. I hope the Minister agrees that it would be far better for the international community, particularly those Latin American countries and our Commonwealth cousins, for the Royal Navy to be going to places such as the gulf of Aden and the Indian ocean off the east coast of Africa and the horn of Africa to protect international shipping, including shipping from Latin America, the Caribbean area and—dare I say it?—the United States, rather than sending more ships to the south Atlantic to respond to the Argentine Government's rhetoric and actions. I hope that the great people of Argentina will see beyond the unhelpful and highly charged political rhetoric of President Kirchner and say that this is not a route down which they wish to go again. They have been there before and the consequences were severe for that nation. We stand completely behind the people of the Falkland Islands. We heard an intervention earlier on armoured vehicles and on BAE Land Systems. It is regrettable that nearly 100 years since the first use of the tank—a British invention—in 1916 at the battle of the Somme, which was referred to earlier, it is likely that the manufacture of armoured vehicles in the United Kingdom will cease as a result of the Government's dither and delay over the new armoured reconnaissance vehicle. I would have wanted the CV90, the scout vehicle, to go to BAE Land Systems, not only because it does a great job in my constituency but because it would have kept that defence engineering capability within the United Kingdom, rather than its being outsourced to General Dynamics, which will use companies in Austria and elsewhere. If that is not the case and the Government have not awarded the contract to GD, I hope the Minister will make that clear this evening. If there has been a cancellation of the whole scout project, I hope the Minister will make that clear as well. It is clear that the British Army requires that vehicle, as well as the new cannon on the Warrior. That is long overdue and it affects my constituents, who work so hard and so well at BAE Land Systems and the Defence Support Group in Donnington. The Minister was kind enough to write to me today and he has informed the House today that Operation Borona—the draw-down of some of the British Army of the Rhine from Germany that was due to take place in 2013-14—is now delayed, for the large part, to 2018, a five-year delay. What does that mean for the west midlands? The Secretary of State is an MP from the west midlands, and the former Defence Minister, now a senior Whip—the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr. Spellar)—who has just taken his place on the Front Bench also represents the region. Defence procurement and manufacturing are critical to the west midlands. What does the delay in the draw-down of British troops mean for the west midlands and west midlands jobs? In 2013, a significant number of people will need to leave RAF Cosford in Shropshire to be relocated to Wales as a result of the defence training review. I am one of many who believe that the defence training review project—the largest private finance initiative in British history, at £13 billion—has been flawed from the very beginning. The vast majority of people whom the MOD expects to move to Wales will be unable or unwilling to do so for a wide variety of reasons, one of them being the price differentials in housing. I pay tribute to the PCS union for the hard work it does in my constituency. If the union is right—it often is—more than 74 per cent. of the existing personnel at RAF Cosford will not be able to go down to St. Athan as part of the DTR project. Let us say that the majority do move to Wales in 2013. Previously the west midlands region was unhappy about that, but had consoled itself by thinking that the British Army would backfill vacancies into places such as Cosford. However, the written ministerial announcement today of the delay until 2018 means that there will be a five-year gap from when people leave Cosford until the British Army returns to the west midlands. I hope the Minister will tonight say what will happen to RAF Cosford in that five-year period. I understand that BBC Midlands this evening has run a story in which an MOD statement suggested that job losses will not necessarily be forthcoming and are not inevitable. Will the Minister confirm that that is his view? Will he go further and say that he will guarantee that there will be no job losses at RAF Cosford as a result of the delays to Operation Borona? The people of the west midlands are right to want the British Army spending British pounds in British towns, not in German towns. Despite the peace dividend in Northern Ireland, there has recently been an increase in dissident activity, and I hope that as the MOD scrabbles around to make up for the many financial planning errors it has made—with the oversight of Ministers—it will not leave the Security Service and the Police Service of Northern Ireland without the necessary level of support from the Northern Ireland garrison. There have been some sharp attacks on people who have given long and distinguished service to our nation, such as former Chiefs of the Defence Staff and of the various services, and that is unfortunate because, ultimately, it is Ministers who decide; yes, they take advice from senior military officials, but it is Ministers who make the final decision. I therefore think it wrong for the buck to be passed. Turning to the horn of Africa, it is intriguing that, despite the Royal Navy and other navies from Europe and around the world being deployed in the area, piracy there has increased. There needs to be a review of the Royal Navy and international navy presence in the horn of Africa. If that is not delivering the results we all want, instigating a review would be a sensible step. Last week, I mentioned in the House that automatic ship transponders, which give ships' global positioning, are apparently being turned off by some shipping companies because they fear that some Somali pirates are able to track them. That issue needs to be raised with the International Maritime Organisation and with shipping companies directly. Turning transponders off does not help the international navies in trying to protect ships, and it also might make insurance null and void. This is a serious matter. The rules of engagement are extremely important too. I would be interested to learn whether the Minister has had any discussions with his Foreign Office colleagues on how pirates might be brought before the courts. I know that the British Government have been liaising closely with the Government of Kenya, but there has not been as much progress as we would perhaps have wanted. It is therefore right that the British Government should look for other partners in the region—such as Tanzania—where these pirates can be brought before the courts. Cyber-security has been mentioned this evening, and a couple of Members asked what is happening in the House on that issue. I am pleased to be able to say that a new all-party group on cyber-security has been established, albeit only three months ago. I had the great honour of being elected its chairman, and I invite all Members who are interested in cyber-security to get involved; we have some great speakers lined up over the next few weeks. It is a very important issue and I hope we can increase knowledge, awareness and understanding of it in the House in the coming years—subject to the re-election of myself and other members of the all-party group. I should also put on the record that I am not an expert on the issue, but I do have a particular interest in it. When Iran is mentioned in the House, it is often in order to discuss its nuclear programme. We should be in no doubt that there is a nuclear programme in Iran. It is right that we should highlight that, and we need to try to deal with the threat as soon as possible. I hope the international community, and our European partners in particular, will row in the same direction, so we work together to ensure that sanctions are put in place and are effective. I am particularly concerned about reports that some German companies are trying to find a way around the sanctions regime, especially as one or two of them are engineering companies. It is important that the German Government realise that sanctions are only going to work if we all work together. It is not right for German companies to undermine the European and international sanctions effort. Notwithstanding the nuclear question, when we look around the world we can frequently see the malevolent, repressive and destabilising influence of the Iranian regime—not the Iranian people, but the regime. Let me therefore take us on a brief global tour in order to see where Iran is involved. In Latin America, President Ahmadinejad has visited President Chavez—and, indeed, President Putin has also visited Venezuela. It is clear that the hand of Iran is seeking to be a destabilising influence in Latin America, and it is succeeding. In particular, it is trying to stir up trouble between Colombia and Venezuela. That is unhelpful to the region, as it will not serve to attract foreign investment; in fact, it will scare potential foreign investors off. President Chavez of Venezuela needs to keep better company, and to focus on getting people back into jobs in Venezuela and on helping the poor in his country. The hand of Iran is also stirring up trouble in Eritrea and Somalia in the horn of Africa, while in Europe it is still stirring up trouble in the Balkans. All over the world, the hand of Iran is a repressive, malevolent and destructive force. There are therefore many reasons why we should deal with Iran, notwithstanding the nuclear question. I could also name other countries, of course, such as Lebanon, Iraq and even Afghanistan. There is no doubt that the hand of the Iranian Government is still active there, and it is a dark hand that I believe is a threat to the United Kingdom's national security. There has been some criticism of soft power from Members tonight, and I think there is some merit in those criticisms. However, I want to put on the record my tribute to the work of the British Council, the BBC World Service, school and university exchange programmes and the Chevening scholarships. All play an important role in projecting the UK's soft power and in promoting our values. They are not arms of the state—although the BBC World Service might take a different view—but it is important that we remember that these levers of soft power are vital elements in our international diplomacy. We reduce the resourcing and support for them at our peril. Britain is a force for good and should continue to be so, but it can use the levers of diplomacy and soft power and promote all the many things that make this nation great only if it has strong armed forces: strong peace through strong defence.