ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Let’s talk now to Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, good morning. Good news now in the sense that we know there has been some kind of resolution to the hostage crisis in Algeria but still a very confused picture.

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well the crisis is resolved but obviously the first thoughts this morning have to be with those British families who have lost loved ones in this appalling incident but it now turns to both, as the Prime Minister has suggested, identifying bodies on the site and making sure that there is safe passage and urgent return for those UK nationals still in Algeria. My hope would be that then there would be the opportunity for both questions to be asked and answers to be provided, not just about the immediate response that was undertaken to this attack but also more broadly, what are the implications for the foreign policy of the United Kingdom and indeed of the other affected countries.

DM: Well let’s push some of those questions forward. On the foreign policy, first and foremost, given that we know about the hydrocarbon reserves within Algeria and how easy a target this turned out to be for the terrorists, UK relations with Algeria – we offered them help, they didn’t want it, they didn’t tell us about the initial operation – do we need to look at those relations on a narrow front first of all?

DA: Of course we need to look at those relations but we need to keep talking to the Algerian government. They’ve lost a significant number of their own civilians in this terrorist attack on their own soil and nobody should be in any doubt that the responsibility for what has happened in the desert lies squarely with the hostage takers and with the terrorists who stormed the facility. On the other hand, I judge that this is a time for caution and for cool heads within the British government and in other Western governments, in judging how to respond more broadly to the security challenges that are now being faces in north and west Africa.

DM: Well what do you mean by that? This is a new front on the war on terror, the French are attacking similar types of forces we believe in Mali, there is going to be a huge conflict there we suspect as they try to take back northern Mali, the war has started.

DA: And what have we learned over not just the last decades but recent decades? That first of all there is no military only response to an insurgency. Secondly, that there is no benefit in taking a number of disparate regional disputes and cohering them together into a suggestion somehow of a global war against terror. I think we need the humility to understand as well as the commitment to act, to support those who are best placed to lead the response and I would argue very strongly that there needs to be an African led response to the challenges in the Sahara.

DM: Well what do you think about the Mali conflict? That is existential, it is there in front of us, the French have troops in, they believe they are going to have to put more in and they are going to need to take on these rebels. They’ve said they’re going to do that, they want a west African support there, they’re waiting for that, do you think the British should get more involved?

DA: I’m not convinced that Britain should get more involved than the logistical support that has been provided to date to our French allies. I think the right response is to ensure that the ECOWAS forces, that’s the West African forces, arrive as boots on the ground to support the Malian government. My understanding is that hundreds of Nigerian troops are due to arrive this coming week, they need to be supplemented urgently with other African forces but the urgency of the diplomatic response to Mali is as great as the urgency of the security response and that is why it is critical that there is a focus, including by the United Kingdom, on what diplomatic and development efforts can buttress the work of the Malian government in the months ahead.

DM: But do you think it has implications for resources because we are now on alert across this whole region, there may be need for some kind of military anti insurgency operations in the future, we have to be prepared. Do we have, in your view after the Strategic Defence Review, the resources operationally to carry out anything like that?

DA: Well at the time of the action in Libya, we pointed out the fact that the words Libya and North Africa did not appear in the Defence Review that was undertaken when this government came to power but listen, let’s make first of all a judgement in terms of policy and then look at the issue of resources. In terms of policy I think the right response is to ensure that there is diplomatic development and political support and intelligence sharing for those African countries that are capable of supporting Mali at this time. At the same time of course we need to continue to consider how best within the existing defence budget to be able to provide the protection that UK forces …

DM: Okay, I’ll put that to Jock Stirrup but just the last question to you, Douglas Alexander, on the Europe speech, the much awaited Europe speech from the Prime Minister. We’ll hear from the Foreign Secretary this morning that it’s going to be next week and we’ll hopefully get some clarity then on the government’s, well on the Conservative’s intentions?

DA: Well I completely understand the reasons why the Prime Minister cancelled the speech on Friday but we’ve heard it before from the government in terms of when they’re planning to give this speech, it’s been delayed for almost a year. I do hope they bring clarity but I hope they exercise their judgement not based on party interest but the national interest. We’ll have to wait and see.

DM: Okay, Mr Alexander, thank you very much indeed, Douglas Alexander.