Defence questions

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has welcomed the decision to scrap the run-off election in Afghanistan following Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawal from the contest.

Mr Ainsworth told MPs at his departmental question session on 2 November that President Karzai had to form an inclusive and corruption-free government in his second term.

Mr Ainsworth's former aide Eric Joyce, who resigned over Afghanistan, said British troops' continued presence should be tied to a promise of reform by President Karzai.

Mr Joyce, who is a former Army major, asked: "Will you confirm that the continued risking of British troops' lives in Afghanistan will be contingent on a significant acceptance from President Karzai, the obviously corrupt President Karzai, of a significant dispersal of power away from him?"

Mr Ainsworth replied: "We need, now that we have got an end to this election period, to prevail upon the Afghan government to be inclusive, to build good governance in the various different parts of the country.

"That has to be our main effort and that of our allies as well."