Hoon: Briefing MPs

The defence secretary has told MPs that the government will redeploy British troops to an American-controlled area in central Iraq.

Geoff Hoon said that the Black Watch and supporting units, totalling 850 personnel, would be involved in the move.

He said that military chiefs had advised him that British troops could carry out the additional work.

"There is a compelling military operational justification for doing so and... it entails a militarily acceptable level of risk for UK forces," Hoon said.

"Based on this military advice the government has decided we should accept the US request for assistance.

"I emphasise again that this was a military request and has been considered and accepted on operational grounds after a thorough military evaluation by the chiefs of staff."

Labour concern

The decision prompted criticism from the Labour backbenches, where many view the move as a boost to the election campaign of President Bush.

There were also widespread concerns about the impact on civilians should US troops move on to assault insurgent strongholds such as Falluja.

Labour backbencher Dai Havard said there must be "some explanation of what the Americans are going to do" when they are relieved by UK troops.

And former foreign secretary Robin Cook warned the UK was "much more likely" to be held responsible for any civilian deaths caused by future US operations.

Veteran left-winger Dennis Skinner told Hoon that "you don't have to be a lover of Saddam Hussein to be against this deployment and against the war".

Further criticism came from former minister John Denham, who warned that there would be a "political cost" for Labour following the decision.

He also expressed concern that the US relied on British support but was failing to reciprocate in areas such as the Middle East peace process.

And Labour MP Glenda Jackson intervened to slam the war in Iraq as a "total unmitigated failure".

Cabinet debate

A report on whether the redeployment should go ahead had been compiled by a reconnaissance team in Iraq and senior ministers discussed the issue in Thursday morning's Cabinet meeting.

Following the ministerial talks, Number 10 said the Cabinet was "unanimous in its support for our troops and their commanders on the ground".

The prime minister's official spokesman added that the government was committed to doing "all it can to prepare for free elections in January".

Following the Cabinet meeting, Hoon also told the Commons that plans were in place to ensure British troops in the south would have sufficient resources to deal with any upsurge in violence.

There would be extra troops and a "very robust force capable of dealing with any contingencies".

"This deployment is limited in scope, time and space," the defence secretary added.

"It does not represent a permanent additional commitment of forces. The overall trend in the numbers of our deployment in Iraq remains down."

Support and criticism

Shadow defence secretary Nicholas Soames said the Conservatives backed attempts to bring stability and democracy to Iraq.

"We on this side of the House will support this deployment on the basis of it being a necessary operational military contribution to the coalition's efforts to bring peace and stability to Iraq ahead of the January elections," he said.

Paul Keetch for the Liberal Democrats said his party was opposed to the deployment.

"We... did not support the war in Iraq but we accept that we have a responsibility to the people of Iraq," he said.

"However, we also have a responsibility to our own troops serving there, to their protection, to their welfare and to their morale.

"And it is for that reason that we believe British troops should remain in the British sector under direct British command, so we do not today support this redeployment."