Hutton: 'We must fight Taliban to keep Britain safe'

November 12, 2008

Britain must not "scuttle away" from the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, John Hutton warned, as he insisted the conflict was as high a priority as the two world wars.

Mr Hutton used his first major speech since being appointed Secretary of State for Defence last month to warn that pulling out of the conflict would deal "a profoundly dangerous blow" to British interests. He told an audience at the International Institute for Strategic Studies that the argument for British involvement in Afghanistan was stronger now than it was after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

He said: "If walking away then would have damaged those interests, scuttling away now would deal them a profoundly dangerous blow. In my view, our engagement is as much a security priority for the UK today as the world wars or the Cold War of the last century. Terrorism is a constant threat, one that actually cannot be understated, wished away or appeased. It has to be confronted wherever and whenever it threatens our security here at home. That is why we have 8,000 troops in Afghanistan."

He added that premature withdrawal of troops would send a signal of weakness around the world. Mr Hutton said: "The victims of that kind of defeatism would be the British people.

"We would have abandoned our ability to tackle terrorism at source and we would then have to deal with it here on our own streets, for that is where al-Qa'ida would eventually manifest itself. I do not want to see British youngsters being indoctrinated into extremism in new al-Qa'ida camps ruled by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Withdrawal would confirm al-Qa'ida propaganda that Britain, like the Soviet Union before it, bombed and then bolted. We would be portrayed as wrong, callous or weak."