[Hi folks, here is Tony Blair's speech to the Welsh Assembly in Êrdiff. He
should be making it around about now, London -- or should that be Cardiff?
-- time. John.]
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The terrorist attacks must not be forgotten

http://www.labour.org.uk/

30-OCT-01

Speech by Tony Blair, Welsh Assembly, Cardiff

--- CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY ---

Thank you for your invitation to be here today - the first British Prime
Minister to have addressed the National Assembly of Wales.

Devolution is about harnessing the power of community - the diverse
community that is the United Kingdom, and the national communities that
through devolution can take their futures in their own hands.

Wales has a long history of innovation. It has been a great industrial
exporter - from the coal and steel that powered the first industrial
revolution to satellite components and computer circuit boards today, when
more people work in its electronics plants than coal mines.

You have always been exporters of ideas and of reforming politicians too.
The pioneering socialist Robert Owen. David Lloyd George. Nye Bevan, the
father of the NHS. And of course my predecessors as leader of the Labour
Party - Neil Kinnock, Michael Foot, and Jim Callaghan, in whose former
constituency the Assembly is located.

The National Assembly leads a newly confident Wales, giving a lead to the
rest of the UK - and to Europe.

But now we have to make devolution really deliver for the people of Wales -
delivering not just greater democracy but also better public services and
stronger communities.

When I accepted this invitation months ago, I had in mind a very different
speech than the one I give today. I understand some feel I should not
address the present crisis in the Welsh Assembly. I am sorry if that is the
case but if I were speaking today before any Parliament in the world, I
should feel obliged to talk about the issue that rightly
preoccupies people and I hope the people of Wales will consider it a mark of
respect not of disrespect if I do so here. And we should never forget the
contribution Wales and the Welsh people make to our Armed Forces.

I said a few days ago that now would be the testing time. People want
results. They want them as fast as possible.

They realise the formidable challenges posed by any action in Afghanistan.
They worry about civilian casualties. They are anxious about the refugee
crisis as winter approaches. They wonder what comes after the conflict.

All these concerns deserve to be answered. No one who raises doubts is an
appeaser or a faint heart. We are a democracy, strong enough to have doubts
raised even at a time of war and wise enough to be able to respond to them.

But let us go back to why we are in this conflict. On 11 September,
thousands of people were killed in cold blood in the worst terrorist attacks
the world has ever seen. That is a fact. Those responsible were the Al Qaida
network reared by Usama Bin Laden. That is a fact barely disputed by
anymore. Incidentally, the intelligence evidence, significant when I first
drew attention to it on 3 October, is now a flood, confirming guilt.

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan protect Al Qaida and help them. That is a
fact. Indeed,according to the latest evidence we have, they are virtually a
merged organisation. The Taliban regime are cruel, dictatorial and
oppressive, causing 4½ million refugees to be on the move before 11
September. That, too is a fact.

Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaida have said they consider it their duty to commit
further terrorist acts. We gave the Taliban an ultimatum to deliver up Usama
Bin Laden. They refused. These are also facts.

They lead to one inescapable conclusion: that if we do not act against Al
Qaida and the Taliban, Al Qaida will have perpetrated this atrocity, the
Taliban will have sheltered them, and we will have done nothing. We will
have done nothing despite the fact, also inescapable, that they intend to
commit more atrocities unless we yield to their demands which include the
eradication of Israel, the killing of all Jews and the setting up of
fundamentalist states in all parts of the Arab and Moslem world.

So: we have a group of people in Afghanistan who are the sworn enemies of
everything the civilised world stands for, who have killed once on a vast
scale and will kill again unless stopped. They can't be negotiated with.
They refuse to yield to justice.

And they have one hope: that we are decadent, that we lack the moral fibre
or will or courage to take them on; that we might begin but we won't finish;
that we will start, then falter; that when the first setbacks occur, we will
lose our nerve.

They are wrong. We won't falter.

We will not stop until our mission is complete. We will not flinch from
doing what is necessary to complete it. We will not fail and we will do it
all because we believe in our values of justice, tolerance and respect for
all regardless of race, religion or creed just as passionately as they
believe in fanatical hatred of Jews, Christians and any Moslems who
don't share their perverse view of Islam.

They mistake our desire for a comfortable life, living in peace, benign
towards different races and cultures, for decadence. It is not decadence. It
is progress and we will fight to maintain it.

Now let me return to the questions that need answering.

Our objectives are clear: to close down the Al Qaida network, bring UBL and
his associates to justice and because the Taliban regime have chosen to side
with Al Qaida, to remove them.

The means we use will be: air power; ground operations as and when necessary
in furtherance of our aims; support to the Northern Alliance and other
anti-Taliban regime elements; and building up a strong political and
diplomatic coalition against the present Taliban regime inside and outside
Afghanistan.

We have destroyed the Taliban air force, put Taliban airfields and air
defence systems out of action; destroyed all the main Al Qaida camps;
profoundly damaged Taliban command and control facilities, and dramatically
reduced their capacity to communicate with their
forces in the field.

So this is a steady process of fragmenting, undermining and eventually
destroying the Taliban regime as a serious threat capable of inflicting any
more damage on their country and the outside world.

But two words of caution. This is not a conventional conflict. It is not a
battle for territory per se or for the subjugation of Afghanistan. It is a
battle to allow Afghans themselves to re-take control of their country and
in doing so to close down the threat posed by the present rules. The
political and diplomatic go hand in hand with the military. And we
simply cannot and should not disclose the exact nature of the ground
operations we intend to undertake. There is a limit to what we can sensibly
discuss in public.

We do all we can to limit civilian casualties, unlike Usama Bin Laden and Al
Qaida who did all they could to cause as many civilian casualties as
possible.

Tragically, there will be some but I do ask people to be deeply sceptical
about Taliban claims.

Whilst the military action continues, two other things are happening. We are
establishing a huge humanitarian effort - $700m already pledged. We are
determined to feed and shelter as many refugees as we can. But we have to
contend with armed groups harassing UN food convoys, stealing their
equipment or even the food itself. We are in continuous discussion with the
UN agencies and other on the ground to see how to improve the delivery of
supplies and humanitarian assistance, and carry on doing all we
can.

Secondly, under the leadership of Mr Brahimi, the Special UN Envoy, the UN
is convening as wide a representative group of Afghan opinion as possible in
order that when the present Taliban regime falls, a successor regime,
broad-based, can take its place. All the main regional countries are being
consulted.

The end we desire is this: Al Qaida shut down in Afghanistan ; the Taliban
regime out; a new broad-based regime in; Afghan reconstruction underway.

Our military action is focussed on Afghanistan. But terrorism is a wider
problem not limited to there. We will take action as a world community on
its financing, weapons capability and movement of terrorists wherever we
can, as with the recent EU measures.

This second stage of action will, of course, be subject to close
consultation and deliberation with the global alliance against terrorism.

The international coalition remains strong. I pay tribute to Arab and Moslem
countries who have supported our action. I thank Saudi Arabia for its
forthright condemnation and action.

UBL may be Saudi in origin but he defames the good name of Saudi Arabia,
which is a good and dependable friend to the civilised world.

Every part of this is difficult. Every part requires courage, conviction,
hard work. In every part, there may be setbacks from time to time.

But in every part, we have justice and right on our side, and a strategy to
deliver.

It is important we never forget why we are doing it. Important we never
forget how we felt watching the planes fly into the twin towers. Never
forget those answering machine messages. Never forget how we felt imagining
how mothers told children they were about to die.

Never forget the guts of the fire fighters and police who died trying to
save others. Never forget the menace of UBL in his propaganda video. Never
forget that too long a list of countries who lost sons and daughters. Never
forget that they were of all faiths and none; Christian, Jew and Moslem;
many Moslems, for it is not us who are at war with Islam. It is
Al Qaida and the Taliban who are at war with anyone, whatever their faith,
who does not share their maniacal, fanatical view of the world.

He did not just hijack planes. He has hijacked a country from which he runs
his terrorist,criminal activity. Now he would like to hijack a religion; and
hijack the Palestinian cause too.

We are a principled nation, and this is a principled conflict.

September 11th is no less appalling today than it was on September 11th. 

Our determination is no less resolute than it was on the day military action
began. We have a job to do; and it is being done and will be seen through to
the end.

Now is a time for people of all races and all faiths in Britain to stand
together.

That is exactly what Moslem leaders in Wales and across Britain have done
with their forthright condemnation of the atrocities of 11 September, and I
thank them for it.

I condemn utterly the attacks and abuse that some British Moslems have
suffered since 11 September - some of them here in Wales.

And I say to the 50,000 Moslems living in Wales today: we will defend your
right to live free from the fear of racism and religious hatred.

Partly as a result of 11 September we face now a more difficult economic
time. But in any event, as a result of globalisation, we face constant
challenges.

The Corus job losses were a heavy blow.

Sectors such as tourism - already struggling from foot and mouth - have been
hit hard.

But the fundamentals of our economy both in Wales and in Britain are the
strongest they have been in a generation.

Employment is rising, not falling. Unemployment here in Wales is at its
lowest level for over 25 years. Interest rates are at their lowest for
nearly 40 years.

We have seen 200 new high tech jobs at a £90 million BT Ignite development
here in Cardiff; and almost 200 at Continental Teves and Desk Link in
Blaenau Gwent - an area particularly hard hit by the Corus losses. New
investment that this Assembly helped to secure.

I have also heard from business leaders that the Assembly has given Wales a
real business voice. Of course, that was one reason behind creating an
Assembly. Much of the pressure for regional government in England comes from
their desire to emulate you.

Those who said that devolution would lead to the break up of Britain have
been proved wrong.

Earlier we met together - leaders from the UK, from Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland to discuss issues of common interest. Diversity does not
mean division - quite the reverse. People are perfectly capable of thinking
of themselves as Welsh and British at the same time.

Devolution to Wales is just one part of a much wider programme of
constitutional reform designed to move us away from a centralised Britain to
a more democratic, decentralised, plural state.

The Scottish Parliament has meant a radical decline in the numbers of Scots
wanting separation. In London, there is now an elected Assembly and Mayor.
In Northern Ireland, thanks to the efforts of the leaders there, we have in
a part of the UK riven by sectarian division, the chance of a new future.

In each area and here in Wales, there are difficulties and tensions between
parties and within parties.

But the result is that instead of one centre of power focussed on Whitehall
and Westminster, there are several with the opportunity for power to be
exercised closer to the people it affects. And I believe the most remarkable
thing is not the problem of devolution but the ease with which what amounts
to a constitutional revolution, has bedded down.

But devolution fits within a broader framework, re-balancing power between
citizen and Government and modernising Britain's constitution.

We have incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. We
have reformed the voting system both here and in the European Parliament.

And we have started reform of the House of Lords, removing the vast bulk of
hereditary peers.

The Wakeham Commission reported in favour of the next stage of reform, with
a balance of elected, nominated and independent members.

Later this month we will publish a White Paper setting out our proposals for
it, based largely on the Wakeham report.

There will be an elected element, to ensure proper regional representation.
There will be a statutory Appointments Commission. There will continue to be
independent members.

There will be rules to determine fair political balance.

We will consult on these proposals and then legislate so that we complete
the work of Lords reform begun in 1997.

But constitutional reform and devolution can never be ends in themselves.
They are means to an end: to improve the lives of the people we serve.

Two years on we must ask ourselves how devolved institutions have measured
up to that task.

I believe there are real achievements of which the Assembly and Wales can be
proud.

On education, Wales has seen the best primary school results ever. Class
sizes are smaller too.

And on health, record investment is being matched with reform.

Meanwhile the National Assembly has confidently handled its baptism of fire-
the fuel crisis, last year's flooding, Corus, and foot and mouth. That is a
credit to the Assembly - and to your leadership and commitment as First
Minister, Rhodri.

Nearly half of the Assembly and a majority of the Cabinet are women - a
level that puts virtually every other parliament in the world to shame.

Pensioners and people with disabilities now enjoy concessionary bus travel -
a policy made in Wales, now being extended to England.

But a huge task still remains.

There are major challenges above all in improving the delivery of public
services - challenges that are just as great here in Wales as in the rest of
Britain.

In our schools, where we need to raise standards still higher.

In our hospitals, where people are still waiting too long for treatment.

The priority now must be to harness the full potential of the current
devolution settlement to improve the lives of the people of Wales.

Westminster must play its part in that process too. Devolution is about
partnership - and partnership is a two-way street.

That is a principle on which both Rhodri and Paul have led the way - that we
achieve more by working In partnership.

The last Spending Review alone provides an extra £1.8 billion of investment
in Welsh public services.

Partnership means ensuring that Wales' voice is heard loud and clear in
Westminster - and Wales could have no greater champion than Paul Murphy.

Partnership allows us then to act together on issues where Wales and
Westminster need to.

legislation for a new Children's Commissioner - the first post of its kind
in Britain; the reforms to the Health Service in Wales that were voted on
here in this very chamber.

on Objective One, for example, where the funding is now in place to help
deprived communities in West Wales and the Valleys.

or on miners' compensation, where I know that the money has not been getting
to those who are suffering quickly enough; but where we are doing all we can
to speed up the payments and ensure that the money gets to those who need it
most - the oldest and the sickest miners and widows. Every week now we pay
out £1 million in Wales - over £100 million in total so far.

I believe devolution has left the UK stronger not weaker. We are able to do
as the UK what we need to do together. And in respect of issues like public
services, we can do things differently. Such a constitutional partnership is
commonplace elsewhere in Europe and round the world. It allows the energy
and diversity of different parts of our country to
breathe and develop.

Devolution is in its infancy still. But already there is a healthy debate
abut how it can develop, which is taking root also in the English regions.

There is a wider context. A development is taking place that is again
obvious and replicated world-wide. Nations are coming closer together - the
EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, Mercosur.

Increasingly challenges, interests and solutions are global like climate
change,international finance or terrorism.

Yet coincidentally, at the very time nations collaborate on a bigger stage,
so within countries, there is a greater desire to seize back control over
local issues on a smaller stage. Politics is finding different levels
appropriate to different types of issue.

Political systems that fail to make sense of these developments will either
become out of touch with people or ineffectual.

Modern Britain is trying to avoid these pitfalls - a true partner now in the
EU and globally, committed to devolution on the issues where devolution
makes sense; yet proud to be Britain where we need to act as Britain.

Separation of the component parts of the UK is a cul-de-sac. It would just
make each part weaker. There is merit in the simple argument that when it
comes to the economy, defence, foreign policy, social security, bigger is
stronger. We can then project that strength globally.

But within that unity, diversity can flourish. That is why devolution is
important. In its infancy it may be, but it is here to stay. I was proud to
make the case for the Welsh Assembly, proud that case was accepted and proud
to be the first British Prime Minister to address you. I won't be the last.

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