Operation Herrick

Nick Harvey Excerpts

Tuesday 14th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman and can tell him that not only those who voted against the operation but those who fully supported it are pleased that we are now drawing down and bringing our combat commitment to an end. He is absolutely right that the draw-down period is a critical phase of the operation with its own risks. One reason for the decision to change the rotation pattern is the importance of maintaining relationships with key Afghans as we have fewer of those relationships. Historically, we have been mentoring and partnering at battalion and company level, but we will not be doing that any more, so we will have fewer relationships with the Afghans. It is important for our own force protection and situational awareness that we maintain and build those relationships.

[Sir Nick Harvey (North Devon) (LD)]

May I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, the logic of which is straightforward? Having spoken socially to some of those who will deploy this October, I think it was widely anticipated that they would serve longer. Perhaps they were warned off, to use the Secretary of State’s expression.

Getting out of Afghanistan safely and steadily requires a great deal of meticulous planning. Does the Secretary of State agree that those who are prone to saying occasionally in the media that we should pack up and get out now are rather missing the point? In the months it would take to rip up the existing plan and devise another one properly, we would probably have got back on to the timeline for the existing plan.