| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Hilary Benn: I welcome the hon. Gentleman on his first appearance at the Dispatch Box on a statement. I am sorry about the way that he ended his observations and his legitimate questions, to which I shall endeavour to respond, because no hon. Member listening to what I have described and the discussions and statements that we have had previously on Iraq could doubt the Government's determination—indeed, the determination of hon. Members on both sides of the House—to try to get this right.
I also welcome what the hon. Gentleman said about our forces and our staff, because it will be much appreciated by those people, who are working very hard, and his condemnation of the attacks—the result of the work of those who frankly will stop at nothing to try to undermine the process.
On security, I think the hon. Gentleman will recognise that while it is the case that life for ordinary Iraqis is getting better and their security is improving, for the coalition forces, the international aid agencies, the UN and the Red Cross, the security situation is getting more difficult. Those two things are happening at the same time.
On the governing council, as the hon. Gentleman will be aware it came together from a disparate group of people, some from outside the country and some who had remained throughout the Saddam years. It is finding its feet. Its members are getting to work together and they represent a range of interests. In taking the first steps towards establishing democracy in Iraq, we have to start somewhere, and it was entirely right and proper to bring together a group of people with a range of interests who represent different parts of that complex country.
All I would say in describing what I saw of the governing council's members in Madrid is that their confidence and authority are increasing as they are getting involved in the work of taking decisions, in consultation and discussion with the coalition provisional authority, about the future of the country. As the hon. Gentleman will recognise and as my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear on the "Today" programme this morning, a process is going on to work out how best to do that and increasingly to transfer responsibility to Iraqis. That is the subject of continuing high-level consultation between the United Kingdom and America.
On preparation, we have already set out the steps that we took to prepare for the outcome of the conflict. As the hon. Gentleman will probably be aware, DFID, in particular, rightly prepared for the potential worst outcome—a humanitarian crisis—so all the things that we put in place were in anticipation of that because, frankly, if we had failed to prepare for that crisis, we would have been rightly criticised. Thankfully, that did not arise because the conflict was very short.
I accept what the hon. Gentleman says about the start of reconstruction having been slow, but all I ask him to acknowledge is that real progress has been made, and I
simply ask those hon. Members—including the right hon. Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram)—who have said that swift enough progress is not being made to acknowledge that we have seen real progress, particularly in the past couple of months.
Mr. Julian Brazier (Canterbury): What about the planning?
Hilary Benn: In a sense, never mind the planning when we can see the product of the improvement that results from the work that has been done and the planning that has taken place at every stage. So look at the evidence of the progress.
On the position of the Red Cross, I cannot say what the timetable might be for the return of the Red Cross's international staff. That is a decision for the Red Cross and other agencies to take on the basis of their assessment of the security position. What the House needs to remember, however, is that a considerable number of Iraqi staff of the international agencies, including the Red Cross, are continuing to work in Iraq. That is why the reconstruction work continues. It has an effect, but the Iraqis who work for those organisations, and the Iraqis in the Ministry of Health and others, are getting on with the job. That is why I hope that the reconstruction process will continue, and the evidence suggests that that is the case.
On the spinal injuries unit, about which the hon. Gentleman rightly says that his predecessor was very concerned, he may or may not be aware that the Ministry of Health and the CPA have undertaken to carry out repairs to it, which I am advised will create 30 beds. Our work through the World Health Organisation and others is to build the establishment of primary care, because, ultimately, we must focus our efforts somewhere. I understand the importance of the spinal injuries unit, and I am pleased to be able to report to the House that, as a result of representations made by ourselves and others, that process will take place.
On the middle-income countries, first, we made a pledge that Iraqi reconstruction would not affect humanitarian work or funding for emergencies, and it has not done so. Secondly, as was touched on in oral questions, it has not affected middle-income programmes this year, and the great bulk of the money for Iraqi reconstruction has not come from that source. In any event, we were committed to the change of moving to 90 per cent. of our bilateral funding being allocated to the poorest countries. I think that that is the right policy, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will support it. My other point is that it would be a mistake to look at Britain's support for middle-income countries solely in terms of our bilateral programme, as we make a very significant investment through the EU and the multilaterals. In Latin America, for example, the UK share of EC spending and multilateral spending in 2001, which is the last year for which figures are available, amounted to £68 million. A significant programme of work continues in those countries, including those from which we propose to withdraw—in most cases slightly earlier than we already intended to do, long before Iraq arose as an issue—and it is important that we recognise the contribution that the UK is making.
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington): I join the shadow Secretary of State in thanking the Secretary of
State for providing an advance copy of the statement today. I also join him in condemning the attacks on Iraqi citizens, the Red Cross, UK and US troops, the Italian police, as we have heard today, and Iraqi governing council members. I, too, pay tribute to the work that is being done by the various organisations and forces in that region.First, does the Secretary of State agree that the best way of speeding up reconstruction in Iraq is to increase and bring forward the involvement of the UN? Can he set out why he believes that there is a better prospect of the pledges that have been made on Iraq being delivered than, for instance, the Tokyo pledges on Afghanistan, in respect of which I am afraid to say the money has not been forthcoming? Can he comment on the reasons for Paul Bremer's emergency recall and whether there are any implications for Iraqi reconstruction? Can he also set out whether there have been any discussions between his Department or other Departments and Paul Bremer about the prospect of British companies and companies from other countries being involved to a much greater degree in the projects that will be funded by the US?
Can the Secretary of State comment on reports, to which the Conservative spokesman alluded, about the threat to the Iraqi governing council and whether it was going to be replaced by a Loya Jirga or something similar? What implications would that have for the reconstruction in Iraq, and what impact would it have on a timetable for elections and handover of sovereignty, which the Iraqi governing council is expected to deliver by 15 December? On an associated point, can the Secretary of State clarify exactly what Sir Jeremy Greenstock's role is in relation to Iraqi reconstruction? Does he in fact have a defined role? Can the Secretary of State comment on whether he has heard rumours of unhappiness associated with Sir Jeremy, and rumours that Sir Jeremy does not think that he currently has a particularly well-defined role in Iraq?
On the question of the Red Cross, clearly, the Secretary of State is not able to provide us with a timetable as to when the Red Cross is likely to return, but can he comment on any parameters or criteria that it will require to be met before it can consider its return? One of the unintended consequences of the reconstruction of Iraq, which has already been alluded to, is the diversion of funds away from middle-income countries. Can the Secretary of State clarify whether any assessment of those projects, and the impact on them, was made before the diversion of funds was announced? Can he explain why those projects, which were previously deemed priority projects, are no longer so deemed? Does he believe, as I do, that people in Romania and Egypt, for instance, will find it hard to understand the reasons why they are having to pay for reconstruction in Iraq?
Iraq's future clearly hangs in the balance, and I urge the Secretary of State to use his office to ensure that Iraq does not descend into chaos, which would be at great cost to Iraqi citizens.
Hilary Benn: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his words on behalf of those who are working in Iraq and his condemnation of the bombings and attacks that have been taking place.
In answer to the hon. Gentleman's first question, the best way to speed up the reconstruction process is to be able to maintain the rate of progress in improving the
lives of ordinary Iraqis, as that builds confidence in the process and people feel that things are getting better, which they are. A second way is to ensure that there is a clearly defined political process that the Iraqi people can see has as its purpose the quickest possible transfer of responsibility for decisions about the future of their country—something that has been denied to them for 30 years under Saddam. That is what the discussions that continue to take place between ourselves, the Americans and the governing council are all about. In response to the hon. Gentleman's point about Sir Jeremy Greenstock, he plays an extremely important part and is a pivotal figure in precisely those discussions.On the question of pledges, it is for each country that has made a pledge to honour the commitment that it has given. I can speak only for the UK Government, and I assure the House that we intend to honour the pledges that we have given about the money that we will make available for the reconstruction of Iraq.
On the so-called threat to the Iraqi governing council, a live political discussion about the political process is taking place, as my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear earlier today, about how we balance the drawing up of a new constitution, the way in which that will be done, who will participate, and at what point it leads to elections. What the UN Security Council resolution, which was unanimously supported, achieved was international support for that process, and it is the job of the Iraqi governing council to report back by 15 December on exactly what should be the timetable for those different stages. That is the right process, because it is the Iraqis who should determine that and nobody else.
On the Red Cross, I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman what criteria the Red Cross might use. It will depend on its assessment of the position. I simply point out to the House that the Red Cross is staying in the north of the country and it has said that the withdrawal is temporary.
On reallocation, in relation to Romania and Egypt, to which the hon. Gentleman referred in particular, we had already planned to withdraw from those countries. There has been a real debate within DFID, long before Iraq, about what we add in the work that we do in middle-income countries. We used to have a programme in the Pacific, but we no longer have one because we have been concentrating our efforts on the poorest countries of the world—hence the commitment to get 90 per cent. of our spending to those countries by 2005–06. I repeat that I believe that that is the right policy.
Finally, to return to threats to the Iraqi governing council, I simply say to the House that the threats to the Iraqi governing council about which I am worried are the threats from those who are trying to kill the people who are putting their lives on the line to try to give the Iraqi people the chance of a better future and who deserve the support of the entire House in that endeavour.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |