I do not wish to be personal, but that is one of the most evasive answers I have heard in a long time. I asked a specific and important question as to whether the invasion and occupation of Iraq, without any UN mandate, had in the view of the Department and the Government, weakened international support for Resolution 1373. The question is there in black and white, so the Minister of State must have an opinion on it. I certainly have. Is it not the case that many of the countries that were willing and eager to respond to the threat of international terrorism, deplored the unilateral action taken against Iraq? That is a fact with which the Minister of State either agrees or disagrees.
The Minister of State referred to the work of the UN Security Council's counter-terrorism committee, but that is a different question. Is the Minister of State in a position to deny that the Government has not ratified all that was required by Resolution 1373? I believe there are some outstanding conventions that have not been ratified, and the same is true for a number of other EU countries.
I want the Minister of State to answer my question as to whether international co-operation has been damaged by the pre-emptive strike, invasion and occupation of Iraq. If a large family of nations within the United Nations supports Resolution 1373, yet a separate coalition of the willing is operating outside the UN Charter, how can the Minister of State tell me that I should be satisfied with an answer about the workings of the counter-terrorism committee? I know about that committee but that is not what I asked. The Minister of State should answer the question I posed.