What action he is taking in conjunction with allies of the UK and the Iraqi Interim Government to protect Iraqi trade unionists.

The transitional administrative law makes specific provision for the right of all Iraqis to join trade unions, and at least 12 national trade unions have already been established. We follow closely trade union issues in Iraq and are working with the TUC and other trade union organisations to support Iraqi trade unions.

We have seen beatings, kidnappings, mortar attacks on the Transport and Communications Workers Union headquarters and the torture and murder of Hadi Saleh, one of the trade union leaders. What are the Government doing to let the British people know about the magnificent efforts of Iraqi trade unionists—not least the rail workers of Basra, who are striking against the terrorists—and Iraqi trade unions in the battle for democracy in Iraq?

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend's work in publicising such issues, and we condemn without reservation the atrocities that he has described. Only this morning, our ambassador in Baghdad gave an interview in which he made clear both our determination to continue to support the people of Iraq as they move through this difficult period immediately prior to the elections, and the scale and significance of what is at stake in Iraq. There is a clear choice between civil society, which my hon. Friend has described, with all the people of Iraq being given a true say in the future of their country, and a group of terrorists who are determined to deny them that opportunity.

I am deeply saddened by the recent torture and death of the well known trade unionist. Is not the truth, however, that the interim Government take their orders from America? We should all deplore the carnage in Falluja and the fact that this unnecessary war has claimed 100,000 victims. A support group has grown up around the Prime Minister, and it has singled out trade unionists as victims, which does the anti-war movement no good. Would it not be better to set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq and let the Iraqi people rule themselves after the election?

Any deaths are to be regretted, but Prime Minister Allawi made a clear statement on Falluja: the insurgents were given the opportunity to lay down their arms and take part in the democratic elections. It is, of course, a matter for regret that the insurgents chose not to do so, but they should not be able to deny the Iraqi people the very civil rights that the prospect of democracy offers them.

I had the privilege of meeting the late Hadi Saleh, the former international secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Workers Trade Unions, when he came to the House and I chaired a meeting that he addressed. During his hideous murder, lists of members of the IFTU were stolen from his home by terrorists. What can be done to allow trade unions to exercise security over information so that they are not dealt with in that way?

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend's long-standing interest and work on behalf not only of trade unions in Iraq but of the people of Iraq. The United Kingdom, working as part of the multinational force, will stand with the Iraqi people and work closely with the interim Government to try to implement the necessary security measures to defend the Iraqi people against the insurgency. We are, of course, concerned about trade unionists, but we are concerned about all the people of Iraq, which is why we shall continue to work hard in the coming days to make sure that security is in place to allow them to have their say in free and fair elections.