Crispin Blunt

Iraq (reconstruction)

Mr. Crispin Blunt (Reigate): I am sure that the Secretary of State has read Simon Jenkins's article in The Times today which, if accurate, shows that his statement that there is a healthy debate about the political and constitutional process contains, unusually for him, more spin than substance. If the rest of Mr. Jenkins's analysis is correct, the fact is that there has been a catastrophic failure of British influence with the Americans in the past 15 months. The Foreign Secretary's statement today that he has not even been consulted on Mr. Bremer's talks with the Administration simply demonstrates that, with the Pentagon taking the lead rather than the State Department, and with the dismantling of the Iraqi army, some fundamental decisions have been made from which British influence was wholly absent. We are now in a position of having responsibility without power. Will the Secretary of State and the rest of the Government do their best to address the situation at which we have now arrived?

Hilary Benn: I have not read the article to which the hon. Gentleman referred, and I do not accept the description of the situation that he has just given.