Afghanistan (Force Protection)

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government – in the House of Commons at 3:33 pm on 17 September 2012.

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Photo of John Baron John Baron Conservative, Basildon and Billericay 3:33, 17 September 2012

Last Thursday, in a statement on Afghanistan by the Secretary of State for International Development, the importance of nation building was stressed. When visiting troops in Afghanistan, the Secretary of State for Defence rightly made the point that our troops’ lives should be put in danger not for the sake of nation building, but only to protect British security interests. Which is the Government view? The importance of the distinction is that the first requires defeat of the Taliban, whereas the second does not.