Tony Blair: First of all, I know that the whole House will want to join me in sending our deep condolences to the family and friends of Major Paul Harding of the 1st Battalion the Rifles, and Corporal John Rigby of the 4th Battalion the Rifles, both of whom died in Iraq; and Drummer Thomas Wright, of the 1st Battalion the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment. All three of them were outstanding...
Tony Blair: Let me point out to the hon. Gentleman that, as he knows, the proposals for the hospitals in his constituency were reviewed by Sir George Alberti, who is someone who has spent a whole lifetime of service in the national health service. He said: "Put starkly, it is evident that high quality modern care cannot be provided for all specialties in all three acute hospitals in the area." He...
Tony Blair: First, let me shock my hon. Friend by saying that the definition of socialism that he has just given—that it is for the many and not the few—is one that I wholeheartedly share. Secondly, let me say that it is absolutely right that we recognise that results are better not because of a downgrading of the exams, but because our pupils are performing better as a result of the investment and...
Tony Blair: First, in respect of the flooding, as the right hon. Gentleman rightly says, it has meant that four lives have been lost. I think that we should all send our condolences and sympathy to the families of those who have lost their lives. In respect of what we now have to do, we have increased the amount of money for our coastal defence protection to something in the region of £600 million a...
Tony Blair: We will, of course, keep that decision under review, and we will put in any further resources that are necessary. It is worth pointing out, and the right hon. Gentleman is right to do so, that not only have our armed forces—in this case the RAF—played a very important role, for which we thank them, but the emergency services as a whole have responded to the crisis in the most exemplary...
Tony Blair: The absolute priority is to try to give effect to what is now the consensus across the international community: the only way of bringing stability and peace to the middle east is a two-state solution, which means a state of Israel that is secure and confident of its security, and a Palestinian state that is viable, not merely in terms of its territory, but in terms of its institutions and...
Tony Blair: I should say in respect of Alan Johnston that we deeply regret the fact of his continued imprisonment, and we are working closely with the BBC and the Palestinian Authority to do everything that we can to secure his release. I am sure that the majority of Palestinian people want to see him released. It is worth simply pointing out that he was a journalist doing a job as a journalist. It is...
Tony Blair: Let me thank the right hon. Gentleman for those very generous sentiments. For all the political disagreements between us, it is always important to be able to work with people on issues of national importance across the political divide, and I have always found him most proper, correct and courteous in his dealings with me, and I thank him for that. Although I cannot wish him well...
Tony Blair: First, I express my sympathy to my right hon. Friend's constituents who have been displaced by the floods. Secondly, I thank him for what he said about the Government's record of investment in communities such as his. In those former mining communities, there has been an enormous amount of regeneration and, in addition, we can count as a very proud achievement the fact that thousands of...
Tony Blair: On Monday evening, I held a reception in Downing street for staff in the medical services—staff employed by the armed forces as well as staff in the national health service—who work for our armed forces. They are an immensely committed group of people, and they do a wonderful job for our armed forces. At Headley Court, Selly Oak and Peterborough, and in the many different facilities up...
Tony Blair: I thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman for that, and may I return the compliment? Again, whatever differences we have had politically, I do not think anybody in the House would think that he is a person other than one of generosity of spirit and courtesy.
Tony Blair: The numbers of UK forces in Iraq depend on the conditions in Iraq. The numbers of forces have come down from 9,000 to 7,000 to 5,500. When, in the next few weeks, we are able to complete a further phased withdrawal, they will come down even further, but they must come down as and when the security conditions allow. We have already handed over responsibility for several provinces that used to...
Tony Blair: I am afraid I do not, for the reasons that I have often given. What is important is that those people who are fighting us in Iraq, who are either backed by elements in the Iranian regime and who are using terrorism to try to kill our troops, or al-Qaeda up in Baghdad who are using the most evil carnage through terrorist bombs to kill as many innocent civilians as they possibly can—those two...
Tony Blair: I do not, I have to say, accept that our troops are not properly equipped. Indeed, every time these claims are made, we look into them and find that, when urgent operational requirements are made, we do our level best to meet them. Our troops are, in fact, extremely well equipped. However, the hon. Lady is right in this sense—that it is important that we judge when it is right to leave Iraq...
Tony Blair: I thank my right hon. Friend for that. It is important to emphasise that, even as we try to deal with the new situation in Iraq, which is about terrorism visited on the country in substantial part by outside elements, we should never forget the hundreds of thousands of people who died in Iraq under Saddam, including those who died through the use of chemical weapons, or, indeed, the 1 million...
Tony Blair: It has gone up, of course, enormously over the past 10 years. One of the reasons why we now have the best results at the age of 11 for primary schools and the best results for GCSEs—in fact, in the hon. Gentleman's constituency there has been a remarkable increase in the numbers getting five good GCSEs over the past few years, and the best results at A-level—is the investment in our...
Tony Blair: I obviously agree entirely with what my hon. Friend says about the importance of bringing peace to the middle east. As I learned in respect of Northern Ireland, it is important to be in a position to bring people together, including those who have been very hostile towards each other. That is the whole basis of the peace process. I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words in relation to the...
Tony Blair: I am really not bothered about that one.
Tony Blair: I thank my hon. Friend for all the work that he has done in relation to climate change. It is true that I and the Governor of California had a meeting on climate change, and the prospect of the United States joining other countries in bringing a global deal to fruition is exciting. That is the most important priority over the next few years. Interestingly, when the Governor and I visited a...
Tony Blair: First, I like the hon. Gentleman, and what I am about to say is no disrespect to him at all, but after the guttural roar from his own Benches that greeted his statement, I really believe that if I were the leader of the Conservative party I would be worried about that. I am afraid that we cannot agree on the treaty, but as for his good wishes to me, may I say to him au revoir, auf Wiedersehen...