Afghanistan: Quarterly Statement

Lord Soley Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

DfID remains very committed in terms of its financial contribution, which is based on the fact that we believe that we can deliver that. A question similar to that was put to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in the other place, and she was very reassuring about what we can do. She is keeping a very close eye on exactly what we can do to ensure that DfID staff are not, for example, office-based back in the capital but actually able to monitor projects as the noble Lord seeks.

[Lord Soley (Lab)]

I am grateful to the Minister for spelling out the advances that have been made in Afghanistan because, sadly, outside this House there is still a tendency to see it as a failed operation. It is important that we change that perception. People think back to what Afghanistan was like when it was a base for al-Qaeda. If they think of the dangers to not just Britain but the wider world and of the enormous advances that have been made in Afghanistan, thereby giving those people a chance to recover from 30 years of war and revolution which ripped the country apart, they will see that we have made enormous progress while recognising the sacrifice that so many people have made.