In A Pickle

Last Thursday, Eric Pickles represented the Conservative Party on Question Time. The first question concerned the six British soldiers killed last week. As a minister of the crown, Pickles had the opportunity to explain the position of the UK Government. What follows is a transcript of what he actually said:

Q. Considering the deaths of the six soldiers in Afghanistan, why is withdrawal still not planned until 2014?

Eric Pickles: Well, I've had the sad experience of having to go to the funeral of a young lad lost in my constituency and it's difficult talking to the parents. They always feel tremendously proud of what the young men have done and I think we should be very proud of these individuals. And I think the hard truth is: these individuals have made our streets that little bit safer. We went into Afghanistan not to control the country... not to make that country a lot better run... we made it to become stable. We went in there to ensure that Al Qaeda couldn't operate... couldn't use it as a base to do another 9/11... they couldn't use it as a base to do that and, I think, by and large, we've succeeding in [doing that] and, despite this dreadful occurrence, Afghanistan - for all its imperfections - is a lot more stable than it was. We, I don't think, are ready to leave until 2014. We're part of the process of trying to ensure that country remains as reasonably stable as it is. Al Qaeda is a shadow of its former self. The Taleband (sic) is desperate. We know, we've got experience of terrorism in Northern Ireland that there may be people that are willing to talk to us that were terrorists but there is always a faction that are willing to use the bomb and the gun to get their way and we can't allow those people to win because we can't allow a country like Afghanistan ever again to be the centre for terrorists that can launch attacks on us or any other part of the world.

David Dimbleby: You use the word "reasonably" stable, suggesting you're not entirely convinced that withdrawal in 2014 will mean that Al Qaeda will never re-emerge in Afghanistan. Am I right in thinking that?

Pickles: No, I think you're reading more... because I think it would be ridiculous to suggest a country that is harbouring people that are capable of organising a bomb of that dimension and one that still has lots of questions about ensuring the rights of women are properly protected will be regarded as stable but what I am confident in saying is: I do not believe there is a reasonable prospect of Al Qaeda returning to the position they had. The Taleban, I believe, is broken up into different fractions (sic)... some are willing now to talk but there are others, we know, we've got experience... we had sixty odd years of experience of this... there are factions in there that do not want to negotiate at any price.

THERE WAS NO APPLAUSE.