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10 Apr 2003 : Column 441—continued
Clare Short: I am sure that we all agree with the hon. Lady that the loss of any life is regrettable—and all innocent civilian life. We send our condolences to all the
families involved. Stopping the looting is of enormous importance, even for emergency humanitarian operations. The UK military had to secure Basra and ensure that our troops were safe, but the priority now is to stop looting and restore order so that humanitarian relief can flow, the Red Cross can get access to hospitals, and the UN can come in to start the big humanitarian operation.We favour not corridors but humanitarian space. We do not want narrow ways in; we want to open up bigger parts of the country for normal humanitarian operations. That is what the UN wants rather than humanitarian corridors. The UN thinks that there can be some return in the south and individual NGOs are planning their return.
A lot of food is already on the seas. Ships are on their way to Umm Qasr with the massive supplies of food that are needed to get the oil-for-food programme up and running again. I am not aware of a problem at the port, but I shall double-check and will get back to the hon. Lady.
Insurance companies always increase their prices massively in crises such as this. Expensive insurance is available and it is being paid for. The experience was the same in Afghanistan and in other crises. I shall double-check that point, too.
The situation in Basra will progress quickly and our troops will be able to ensure that there is enough power. Lack of power means that the water supply is not being used to full capacity. The Red Cross has patched it, but our forces and our engineers will be able to put it right.
The situation in Baghdad is much more unstable and much more worrying. Fighting is still going on and the Red Cross cannot operate at present. The priority is to secure its warehouse and to get Red Cross workers back into the hospitals. There are Red Cross supplies in the city, but the problem is getting access to them. Similarly, appeals have been mounted to help people such as the poor little boy who lost both his arms, as well as his parents, but there are problems in getting access to many of the injured in hospital. Iraqi doctors are bravely working long hours, but they have no water or electricity and they are running out of drugs. The absolute priority is to get the Red Cross in to reinstate those emergency supplies.
The allegations about illegal sales of water relate to the pipeline to Umm Qasr built by British armed forces. Water sales are not illegal in the sense that, in a very hot country with limited water, people actually make their living by supplying water. However, our troops have stopped those sales for the time being. When some people have no water and the poorest have no access to it, it is not right to charge for water.
I do not know whether there will be time for me to make a statement to the House on the west bank and Gaza. However, I shall certainly try to arrange for a written statement, as the situation there is bad.
Mr. George Foulkes (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley): I have no doubt whatever that my right hon. Friend is the best person to lead our reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Does she agree that it is unhelpful to focus on alleged disputes and on the legalities? In circumstances such as these, the problem is to get everyone involved, to get enough resources, to achieve
co-ordination and to keep interest going when the media spotlight turns away. I know that my right hon. Friend is involving the UN and its agencies, the rich countries, the European Community and the NGOs, but will she ask the World Bank, whose spring meeting will be held soon, to make a commitment to give resources for the long-term support of Iraq, which will need support from every possible quarter?
Clare Short: I wholly agree with my right hon. Friend. Whatever the position taken by any person or country during the run-up to the conflict, everyone must be agreed on ending the conflict, getting humanitarian supplies running again, ensuring that the future of the country is better than its past and moving forward on the peace process in the middle east so that the whole region can have a better future. We need to work to bring the international community back together. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund cannot engage with the problems unless there is a legitimate Government. Many countries—for example, Japan—traditionally are big suppliers of aid; they want a legitimate Government and a Security Council resolution. Whatever people's views were before the conflict, everyone should use all possible influence to achieve the Security Council resolution so that we can work with the UN to set up a proper interim authority. That is certainly what the Government are doing.
Tony Baldry (Banbury): I thank the right hon. Lady for the briefings posted daily on her Department's website; they are extremely helpful to everyone who wants to understand the situation.
I do not think that there are great differences between hon. Members on what is being attempted in respect of humanitarian space. Presumably, the UK Army, UK NGOs and others will focus on Basra to try to create the largest humanitarian space so as to reinstate power and water supplies and then move out from there. Will the right hon. Lady try to enlist the help of UK NGOs, many of which have considerable experience in water provision? The other day, members of the Select Committee were with the World Bank, whose president made it clear that the bank wants to support Iraq as soon as possible. However, he made it clear to us, in terms, that the bank could not do that without specific UN authority.
Clare Short: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. Many tributes have rightly been paid to our armed forces for their courage, but when they undertake their duties as peacekeepers, under the Geneva convention, they are undoubtedly the best in the world. They built on their experience in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, Sierra Leone and East Timor, and brought ISAF—the International Security Assistance Force—into being in Kabul. In their work in Basra, they are a model for the world and we can all be enormously proud of what they are doing. They want to undertake their duties under the Geneva and Hague regulations and hand over to the UN as soon as it can operate. That is clear. Their intention is to fulfil all the proprieties correctly. In the meantime, they will do everything in their power to achieve order and to keep things running.
Not many UK NGOs operated in what was Baghdad-controlled Iraq; more of them have experience in the north. Some are preparing to return and when they do
so they will do a good job, but we must be careful not to displace Iraqis. They are a proud, educated people with a strong tradition of running the oil-for-food programme. We need complementary relationships, but Iraqis must lead wherever possible.The hon. Gentleman is right: the World Bank and the IMF have conducted analytical work and are preparing for a needs assessment, but they cannot operate without a legitimate Government, and that requires a Security Council resolution.
Helen Southworth (Warrington, South): What plans does my right hon. Friend have to involve Iraqi women in the reconstruction of the new Iraq, so that they can play a full part, professionally and politically as well as domestically, in creating the new Iraq?
Clare Short: Half the population of Iraq is aged under 15. As the country has crumbled, education for the younger generation has been less good. However, there are many highly educated Iraqis, including many women, who already play a significant professional role in the administration of the country. As was said earlier, Iraq is like the former Soviet Union, where people had to join the Communist party if they wanted to be a teacher. Many members of the Ba'ath party are not the real leaders of the regime, and they will need to remain in their jobs so as to continue to run their country. Women will have a role. All over the world, when the UN brings new legitimate Governments into being, it has made a point of ensuring that women are represented in those Governments.
Alistair Burt (North-East Bedfordshire): The scale of the task to be undertaken indicates that, whatever the resources of our forces, they must be joined as soon as possible by humanitarian aid agencies. In giving evidence to the Select Committee when it examined the possible consequences of conflict, the NGOs made it clear that it would be difficult for them to operate without UN authority. That is why it is vital to indicate precisely what will happen and when. Although some NGOs have decided to re-engage, is the Secretary of State confident that the facts on the ground now mean that the first responsibility of aid agencies, regardless of who is actually in control and what the legalities may be, is the people of Iraq? Is she confident that agencies have put aside any concerns that they may have had before the conflict and that they are ready to be engaged on the scale that is necessary to support our forces and deliver properly to the people of Iraq?
Clare Short: There is absolutely no need for a Security Council resolution of any kind for the humanitarian system to operate. The UN has a duty, always and everywhere, if there is safe access, to help people on any side of any conflict. The UN is clear about that. The only question relates to operational safety. As soon as any part of the country is safe, the UN will say so. The UN has good systems for checking safety and the NGOs tend to follow its advice. Movement into the south is beginning. The UN is the bigger operator and the NGOs help to deliver services at the end of the line. Neither the UN nor the NGOs have any doubt about operating. There have been arguments about NGOs operating with the military; NGOs have reservations about that. The
military operate under the Geneva convention and will hand over to humanitarian systems as soon as possible. That handover will not be a problem for our NGOs and our military.
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