Results 1-20 of 50 for iraq speaker:Gavin Strang

Opposition Day — [14th allotted day]: Iraq Inquiry (24 Jun 2009) has video

Gavin Strang: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary rightly referred to the fatalities of the war, including the hundreds and thousands of Iraqis who have died. We are now debating the British intervention in the war. I shall not rehearse the figures on British deaths, but we need to take into account all the American deaths, too—3,455 of the American armed forces. That figure rises to 4,318 if...

Opposition Day — [14th allotted day]: Iraq Inquiry (24 Jun 2009) has video

Gavin Strang: ...there is a consensus there. The Government amendment makes explicit reference to the families, where it says "recognises the importance of allowing the families of those who gave their lives in Iraq to express their views about the nature and procedures of the inquiry". That is fine. Families, and the organisations that represent them, are hugely important. Let us not have any doubt about...

Opposition Day — [14th allotted day]: Iraq Inquiry (24 Jun 2009) has video

Gavin Strang: ...thoroughly and made it as available as possible to Parliament and the British people. They made a judgment on the lessons for Parliament, which supported the Government who committed us to go to Iraq." The inquiry is not about getting Tony Blair to give evidence in public, although presumably that will happen. It is taken as read that Ministers will give evidence, and some of it may be in...

Defence Procurement (20 Apr 2009) has video

Gavin Strang: .... It is therefore understandable that in recent debates, and indeed to some extent in this debate, a lot of the focus has been on the need to provide proper equipment and support to our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recalling the discussions about Snatch Land Rovers and the new vehicles that are coming on, I think there is agreement across the House—there are certainly some signs...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Iraq (28 Apr 2008) has video

Gavin Strang: Whatever our overall view of the presence of British forces in Iraq, clearly their safety and well-being should be a paramount consideration of the House of Commons. Following on from my right hon. Friend's written statement to the House on Thursday, should we assume that the Government are planning on force levels of about 4,000 at least until the autumn?

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Iraq (1 Apr 2008) has video

Gavin Strang: ...spring. He said that he will tell us—no doubt after the recess—the new timetable. Can he assure the House that the Government are not considering another major military re-engagement in Iraq?

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Iraq (3 Dec 2007) has video

Gavin Strang: The House will surely welcome my right hon. Friend's reaffirmation of our plans for troop numbers in Iraq, but can he confirm that, beyond the spring of 2008, it is still the intention further to reduce the number of Army personnel in Iraq?

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Defence Policy (16 Oct 2007) has video

Gavin Strang: ...this country, so it is right that the House should take an active and ongoing interest in the activities of our military forces, particularly when they are engaged in operations, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which significant numbers of people will inevitably lose their lives or be injured. I wish to focus most of my remarks on Afghanistan, but the House will be well aware of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Defence Policy (16 Oct 2007) has video

Gavin Strang: ...at the time. I have no disagreement with the commitment of my right hon. Friends the Minister and the Secretary of State to trying to get the best equipment for our people, whether they are in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else. I was impressed when the hon. Gentleman said: "We should not confuse our admiration for the magnificent way in which our young soldiers are carrying out their...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Defence Policy (16 Oct 2007) has video

Gavin Strang: I agree, but can the hon. Gentleman envisage a situation where he would want to increase the British military presence in Iraq?

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Iraq and the Middle East (21 Feb 2007)

Gavin Strang: I look forward, as we all do, to the day when the last British soldier leaves Iraq, and I heard what my right hon. Friend said in reply to the Leader of the Opposition, but will he acknowledge that, given the range of hostile elements in Iraq, there is a limit to the extent to which he can reduce the number of troops in any area without beginning to increase the risk to them? Will he assure...

Point of Order: Iraq and the wider Middle East (24 Jan 2007)

Gavin Strang: ...for Louth and Horncastle (Sir Peter Tapsell) has made an interesting contribution about the situation in Afghanistan, and I urge the House to ponder his words. I intend to confine my remarks to Iraq. Like him, I opposed the invasion, and I voted against it. We cannot address the problems faced by Iraq today by saying that we should not have started as we did. All of us, including those of...

Point of Order: Iraq and the wider Middle East (24 Jan 2007)

Gavin Strang: ...further details of the new commitments that the Prime Minister stated would be necessary. I welcome the fact that this debate was initiated by the Government. As long as our troops are fighting in Iraq, we should have such debates regularly. Whatever view one takes of the series of events that led to the present situation, there can be no disagreement about the scale of the tragedy that...

Opposition Day: [Un-allotted Half-Day] — Iraq (31 Oct 2006)

Gavin Strang: Having asked the Leader of the House for a debate on the situation in Iraq, and having been disappointed at the time with his reply, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in today's debate. The situation in which we find ourselves in Iraq is serious and worsening, and the House of Commons has not given the matter adequate consideration. I was one of the Members of the House who voted...

Opposition Day: [Un-allotted Half-Day] — Iraq (31 Oct 2006)

Gavin Strang: ...war in the middle east would damage the coalition against international terrorism that had been put together since the atrocities of September 2001. I was also very concerned that invading Iraq could only help those violent extremists to turn new volunteers to their cause. In September 2003 the Intelligence and Security Committee, of which I was then a member, published a report on Iraqi...

Business of the House (19 Oct 2006)

Gavin Strang: Following the printed and broadcast statements by General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the British Army, and President Bush's acknowledgement that the position in Iraq is comparable to the Tet offensive in Vietnam in 1968, is it not time that this House debated the situation in which our servicemen and women now find themselves in Iraq?

Iraq: Roulement (13 Mar 2006)

Gavin Strang: Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Brookings Institution estimates that between 12,000 and 21,000 Iraqi civilians have died in the violence since the start of the war, in addition to the deaths of more than 1,800 coalition troops and more than 4,000 Iraqi police and military personnel? Does he agree that our most important objective in Iraq should be bringing about an end to the killings,...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Iraq (10 Jan 2005)

Dr Gavin Strang: While the tasks of troops are clearly a matter for military leaders in Iraq, will my right hon. Friend indicate whether any movement of the additional forces—to the north, to Baghdad, to the so-called Sunni triangle—would require a decision of the Prime Minister on his recommendation?

Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland: Scottish Regiments (30 Nov 2004)

Dr Gavin Strang: As an Edinburgh Member, my right hon. Friend is well aware of the capability of the Royal Scots and that they may go back to Iraq next year. Will he consult the Secretary of State for Defence on the timing of any reduction in the number of battalions available to him? Surely the Government's vision of Britain as a force for good in the world is likely to keep the Army heavily committed in the...

Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities (21 Jul 2004)

Dr Gavin Strang: Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Royal Scots, which recruits from the Edinburgh area, returned from Iraq earlier this year and is on call to go back there later this year? Does he realise that in that regiment there are men with wives and young families who have not been at home for Christmas for four years in a row? Given their potential contribution, including to UN peacekeeping in...