Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the outcomes were of his Department's investigation into alleged corruption linked to the gifting of two M1-17 helicopters from the Conflict Prevention Fund to the Royal Nepal Army in 2002; and if he will make a statement.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2000W, on helicopters: Nepal, whether the investigation found evidence of wrongdoing short of criminality in the procurement of the helicopters.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2000W, on helicopters: Nepal, what assistance was provided by the (a) government and (b) army of Nepal to the investigation.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many settlements of what monetary value his Department has paid to members of the armed forces in each age group in relation to combat stress following service in Bosnia and Kosovo; how many claims for such settlements are outstanding; and if he will make a statement.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2000W, on helicopters: Nepal, (1) what the terms of reference were of the investigation; and what the length and cost was of that investigation; (2) what allegations were investigated by the Police Fraud Squad.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2000W, on helicopters: Nepal, from what country the helicopters were purchased; and through what agency the purchase was organised.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2000W, on helicopters: Nepal, what conclusion was reached by the investigation on whether (a) the new production model M1-17s were delivered to the Royal Nepal Army and (b) the mainframe numbers and the numbers in the aircraft logbooks matched.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2000W, on helicopters: Nepal, whether the Police Fraud Squad made any recommendations as a result of the investigation.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's policy is on individual legal action to achieve compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention; and if he will make a statement.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he (a) changed his Department's policy and (b) took other steps in response to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in relation to the wall in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the outcomes were of his Department's investigation into the gifting of two M1-17 helicopters from the Conflict Prevention Fund to the Royal Nepal Army in 2002; and if he will make a statement.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the incidence of (a) post-traumatic stress disorder and (b) other mental illnesses among soldiers in each age group who have served in (i) Bosnia, (ii) Kosovo, (iii) Iraq and (iv) Afghanistan.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a response will be provided to the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood's inquiry of 4 March 2009 on Zahir Omar Ahmed, HO Ref A1166882.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral answer by the Prime Minister of 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1504, what progress his Department has made towards increasing the budget for the Metropolitan police's human trafficking unit.
Clare Short: Just to make this clear, I have not said that there were no plans. Detailed plans were made with the State Department, the UN and other international agencies. The hon. Gentleman is from the military. DFID and the humanitarian agencies cannot bring peace in an occupied territory—that is a military job. I do not honour the attempt to pass over to the humanitarian agencies the responsibility...
Clare Short: In the short time that is available—let me put on record that I still resent the guillotining of everything, and believe that it is one of the reasons for the diminution of the authority of the House of Commons—I want to focus on why we need an inquiry. I shall argue that the reasons are so profound that the inquiry must take place in public, the inquiry team must be strengthened—as has...
Clare Short: I cannot confirm that date, but I can confirm that when I heard the rumour—but did not see the legal document—that the Attorney-General doubted the legality of the war, I warned my staff of the consequences of that, which I think was entirely proper. That is part of the shame of it all, but I shall come on to the preparations. There were preparations that were then all junked, because of...
Clare Short: All the Cabinet meetings were little chats: they were never a proper consideration of all the options. That is terrifying, but true, and it means that our political institutions are unreliable and incapable of making proper, considered decisions. When the Attorney-General came to Cabinet—I remember him coming only once, right at the end—I was stunned by the opinion that he brought to the...
Clare Short: The answer is that because this was being driven—I am running out of time—by the Prime Minister on the phone to the White House, British systems were breaking down. One part of the Government was giving that advice, and another was not. My final point is that because of the deceit, proper consideration was not given to all the policy options. There were other ways of bringing down Saddam...
Clare Short: The military keep implying that it was the fault of the humanitarian agencies that there was no reconstruction, but if the military occupy a country, they have to prevent disorder from breaking out. That is a military task, and I underline that their trying to pass the buck as though disorder were the fault of the UN or the Department for International Development really is not good enough.
