Yesterday in parliament
Wednesday December 6, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Iraq
The chief of the defence staff during the first Gulf war warned that a rapid withdrawal may be needed by coalition forces if the situation in Iraq becomes worse. Marshal of the RAF Lord Craig of Radley added that this could mean leaving behind equipment and stores. In a debate on the Middle East and Afghanistan, Lord Craig foresaw a "total loss of control by the Iraqi government that would imply it might be necessary for us, the Americans and other coalition forces in Iraq to withdraw very rapidly". It could be "even at the expense of having to leave behind valuable equipment and stores", he warned.
Article continues
Earlier Foreign Office minister Lord Triesman said: "The longer conflict and sectarian violence persist, whether between Israel and the Palestinians or in Iraq or in Afghanistan, the easier it will be for al-Qaida to exploit the human misery and attract misguided recruits to its destructive course. If we go back, if we back away, the victory is theirs. We have to show that our will is stronger than the terrorists. That is why the United Kingdom and all of our international partners must stay engaged in every part of the Middle East, not just now but for the long term."
Call for statement on UK's Iraq policy
The Tories called on the government to make a full statement to MPs on British policy in Iraq before they break up for the Christmas recess in two weeks. The shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, pressed the government over what advice the prime minister would be giving to the US president, George Bush, during his visit to Washington on Thursday. Mrs Beckett said Mr Blair would give "exactly the same" advice as that which he had shared with MPs. That included the importance of supporting the Iraqi government. But she undertook to update MPs on any change to policy which required "fresh information".
US-UK relations
The foreign secretary belittled the senior US state department official who said his country regularly ignored British advice. Mrs Beckett said she had "never heard" of Kendall Myers and she "didn't suppose" she would ever hear of him again. She was replying to Tory Boris Johnson (Henley) who called on her to disprove his "withering verdict" that Washington had ignored British advice over Iraq.
Compensation for hostages
A group of British airline passengers taken hostage by Saddam Hussein's regime in the first Gulf war could finally be compensated for their ordeal, Foreign Office minister Kim Howells signalled. He said he would be "glad" to look at the matter again after a plea from Labour's Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley). She said many of the hostages were still traumatised but had never been compensated.
Iraq debts from occupation of Kuwait
The government faced demands to redouble efforts to write off Iraq's debts for the 1990 occupation of Kuwait. The Liberal Democrat's deputy leader, Vincent Cable, branded the reparations regime "stupid and obscene". Labour's Jim Cousins (Newcastle Central) warned it undermined the new, democratically elected, government. Mr Howells said the UK government had urged others to follow its lead in slashing the debts. But many companies and governments that suffered financially as a result of the invasion were "bitter" and wanted recompense.
Cluster bombs
The British military should scrap its stockpile of cluster bombs, the government was urged by the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, Willie Rennie. He also demanded that controversial unguided "dumb" bombs, which can kill or maim civilians if they fail to explode on impact, should be scrapped immediately. Foreign Office minister Geoff Hoon said cluster weapons, if used properly and within humanitarian law, were the most effective way of dealing with armour. But he added: "At the same time, we are taking steps as best we can to reach an agreement internationally that, in particular, those weapons that cannot be properly targeted - that is those that are considered to be dumb - should not be used by any country." The Lib Dems' foreign affairs spokesman, Michael Moore, said: "The bottom line is we should be getting rid of all cluster munitions."
Avian flu vaccines
The government has stockpiled 3.3m vaccines for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a cost of £33m, figures showed. Public health minister Caroline Flint added that the UK had contributed £500,000 towards World Health Organisation efforts to prevent a pandemic.
Falkland Islands
Maintaining a UK force on the Falkland Islands has cost taxpayers more than £600m since 2001, it emerged. Armed forces minister Adam Ingram provided a breakdown of the £602.1m total in a Commons written answer. The bill has been mounting over three years. In 2005-06 it reached £143.3m - up from £113.1m the previous year.
Trains discharging raw sewage on to the tracks
More than one in 10 trains still has to discharge raw sewage on to the tracks and the problem is only expected to be eliminated in 14 years' time, Lord Davies of Oldham, for the government, said. He told peers: "The government's investment in new rolling stock has seen the withdrawal of hundreds of trains which did not have retention tank toilets. That leaves around 13% of the fleet with non-retention toilets, all of which we expect to be withdrawn or converted by 2020."
Public health
The government's record on tackling rising rates of obesity and sexually transmitted diseases was attacked by the shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley. He accused ministers of having good intentions but a "failure to deliver" in the drive to improve public health. Mr Lansley called for appointment of a secretary of state for public health to give greater focus to the need for better standards. Health minister Caroline Flint accused Mr Lansley of "hypocrisy", saying he was a "recent convert" to the cause of public health.
Transport strategy
The government was accused of having a "Yes, Minister" approach to politics over its transport strategy. The shadow transport secretary, Chris Grayling, said Sir Rod Eddington's report published last week was the latest in a long line of such studies. He said: "The government has commissioned plan after plan, study after study, consultancy project after consultancy project all in the classic Yes, Minister tradition of being seen to do something without actually having to do anything at all." The transport secretary, Douglas Alexander, said that under Labour and thanks to a stable economy transport spending had increased by over 50% in real terms compared with when Tories were last in office. He added: "We will bring forward plans to pilot road-pricing to give us the evidence we need on the role of road-pricing to tackle congestion."
Today in parliament
The prime minister and the Tory leader face each other at Commons question time. The chancellor, Gordon Brown, presents his pre-budget report to the house. Earlier the international development secretary, Hilary Benn, responds to MPs. The Commons debates European affairs. There are backbench debates in Westminster Hall. The Lords debates the legal services bill's second reading, curd cheese (restriction on placing on the market)(England) regulations and reform of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
Original article posted here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment