§ 6. Mr. Gordon Marsden (Blackpool, South)What logistical support his Department is continuing to offer KFOR in Kosovo. [122644]
§ The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. John Spellar)We have some 650 personnel deployed to provide support for our own forces, including logistic, medical and equipment specialists.
8 In addition, we are providing the commanding officer for KFOR in Macedonia, we are responsible for operations at the airport near Pristina, and we are assisting KFOR with the movement of its personnel and equipment within Kosovo.
§ Mr. MarsdenI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. It underlines the nation's great pride in the success of British troops in KFOR in maintaining an even-handed approach in Pristina and in apprehending war criminals in the area. However, does he agree that one of the problems during the conflict was the lack of surveillance and intelligence information on the ground? Will he therefore look at improving our reconnaissance and surveillance capacity as a matter of urgency? That is important, given the local elections to be held in Kosovo in the autumn and the fact that, as is reported in today's edition of The Guardian, moderate Serb leaders have already asked European officials to beef up anti-terrorism measures in Kosovo.
§ Mr. SpellarIt is certainly a matter of some pride that the upsurge of insurgency in the Presevo valley has been dealt with very well by allied forces there. My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the need to support and assess information. We have deployed Phoenix to the area to conduct observation for that reason, and the Astor programme, which the Government have ordered, in due course will enhance enormously our capability in that respect.
§ Mr. Menzies Campbell (North-East Fife)May I commend the Government on their exercise of open government with regard to today's publication of the report entitled "Kosovo: Lessons from the Crisis"? Is it not clear that many of the shortcomings identified in the report result from systematic reductions in the defence budget dating from about 1989? In truth, when the then Conservative Government made the proposals, neither Labour nor Liberal Democrat Members sought vehemently to oppose them. However, if we are to have an expeditionary strategy and assert the moral obligation to intervene on humanitarian grounds, is it not clear that we must be able to intervene in the first instance with sufficient capability? Also, must not we be able to sustain the forces that we deploy so that they can cope with what, inevitably in some cases, will be a long haul? As long as the shadow of the Chancellor continues to threaten the Ministry of Defence budget, how do the Government think that they will achieve that?
§ Mr. SpellarI am always in favour of pleas from Opposition Members for additional funding, but the right hon. and learned Gentleman's analysis closely resembles that of the strategic defence review. The effectiveness of the SDR was demonstrated clearly in Kosovo, where we were able to respond rapidly. We have also managed to sustain that operation with forces in Bosnia and Kosovo, and they are doing a tremendous job extremely professionally.
With reference to an earlier question, I should like to point out that, at the same time as running those operations, we were able to intervene in Sierra Leone with spectacular speed—more rapidly, I believe, than almost any other country in the world. Obviously, we need to enhance that capability, which is precisely why my right 9 hon. Friend the Secretary of State has announced the heavy-lift programme, which will start with leasing four C-17 aircraft and include the A400M. Naturally, a programme of that size will have been agreed with the Chancellor and the Treasury. That demonstrates the commitment of all Departments to the implementation of the SDR.
§ Mrs. Alice Mahon (Halifax)Is the Minister aware that German soldiers in Kosovo have been told not to eat local produce after fears that deposits of uranium from NATO's use of depleted uranium might have contaminated the soil? Similarly, there have been reports that the United Nations has warned its officials that the water supply could be contaminated. What warnings have been given to the civilian population and to British troops serving there?
§ Mr. SpellarI have had no indication of any of that. The problems of water supplies are more to do with traditional pollution, which is why our forces have substantial supplies of bottled water. The argument about depleted uranium seems to have been greatly exaggerated. As for pollution, the United Nations investigation demonstrated that most of the problems stemmed from before the military engagement in Kosovo, and are down to the reprehensible policies of the Milosevic regime.
§ Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury)Progress in Kosovo for both the military and the civilian populations continues to be hindered by the danger from unexploded ordnance. I understand that there have been 100 deaths and 400 other casualties as a result, many of them, regrettably, from unexploded allied cluster bombs. However, 40 per cent, of the area at risk has still not been cordoned off. Given the Government's commitment to humanitarian de-mining, why did NATO not co-operate with the United Nations mine action co-ordination centre in Pristina, when last August it asked for help in locating cluster bomb drops? Why did Kofi Annan have to write last month begging Lord Robertson for help? Why, after all this time, have only 4 per cent, of the minefields in Bosnia been cleared?
§ Mr. SpellarI should have thought that the hon. Gentleman would be congratulating our forces which, as a priority on entering Kosovo, cleared many public buildings, notably schools, so that some 90 per cent. of children were able to get into their schools. I should have thought that extremely important.
In Kosovo, we are undertaking, as we do in all countries with similar problems, a lot of work in alerting people—not just our own troops, allied personnel and non-governmental organisations, but the local population—to the dangers of unexploded ordnance. Our troops are also working with local organisations to deal with clearing them. It is a major job, as we have found in all such countries. Indeed, as we all know, even today we are still finding unexploded ordnance in this country. We should recognise the considerable work that has been undertaken to enable Kosovo to return to a degree of normality, rather than simply carp about what still requires to be done.