John Baron MP presses Government over leaked NATO report on Afghanistan

MP says there should be a statement

Today in the House of Commons, during Business Questions, John Baron MP asked the Leader of the House for a statement on a recently leaked NATO report on Afghanistan. John has long been critical of Government policy and was the only Conservative MP to vote against the Government’s continued policy during the first debate on the issue in September 2010.

John asked,

“A very recently leaked NATO report suggests the Taliban insurgency will not be beaten and that the Taliban has wide support among the local people. This is despite NATO’s public claims to the contrary on both counts. Given the credibility of this report, should not the Government make a statement?”

The Leader of the House responded by saying that the Government does not comment on leaked reports and that there will be an opportunity to raise this issue when the Government next reports to the House of Commons on Afghanistan.

John said afterwards,

“There is an urgency to this matter. This report confirms that the time has now come for the West to respond positively to recent gestures by the Taliban which suggest a willingness to talk. The UK needs to remind the US that there are fundamental differences between the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and that one can talk and fight at the same time – as we showed in Northern Ireland. But time is running short.”