Part of Oral Answers to Questions – in the House of Commons at 2:33 pm on 10 May 1999.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I certainly join her in congratulating British forces in Macedonia. In fact, Lieutenant-General Mike Jackson, the commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps—the NATO force—was in London this morning and shared the rostrum with me at our Ministry of Defence daily briefing. I made clear to him—as did all my ministerial colleagues—how proud we are of the British forces and of all the troops under General Jackson's control for the outstanding work that they have done to deal with that flood of humanity tipped over the borders of Kosovo into Macedonia. With civility, decency and huge individual skill and sacrifice, the troops have looked after those human beings. We must continue to listen to what the refugees are saying about the horrors that they have experienced; we must not be put off by anything in our determination to get them home.