Armed Forces Bill

In a sense, the point is made. In an earlier intervention, I made the point that international law is as important as law, and that should apply. This Government and Parliament have put a lot of personal responsibility on people to comply with the law. If they do not, the punishments are increased. Therefore, they must examine the law and international law as it applies in military terms. The punishment should therefore reflect that personal responsibility. As has been said, a life sentence is inappropriate. As to who an enemy is, the Minister’s intervention, in which he said that the situation is like it always has been, just will not do. In the second world war, we had a clearly defined enemy, which was referred to as an enemy. Now, even al-Qaeda is not referred to as an enemy in legislation or in what has been laid out in Parliament. Things have therefore changed considerably. If we are to apply such emphasis and impose such strict sentences on the basis of having an enemy, let us at least declare a war in the traditional way, so that we know who the enemy is, and so that people are clear about that. Otherwise, the enemy can change from day to day. In Iraq, is the enemy al-Qaeda, or is it nationalists? Who exactly is the enemy in Iraq?