I want to answer the question directly. Let's be honest, and Nick didn't say this, we've already got Al-Qaeda in Somalia, we've already got problems with Al-Qaeda in Yemen. We are having to take action with our multilateral partners to deal with these problems, and will continue to have to do so. Why are we in Afghanistan, and why we have we got to be vigilant all the time? The reason is, there is a chain of terror that links these Al-Qaeda groups in different parts of the world to action that could happen in the United Kingdom. Every week I get a report, sometimes every day, of terrorist plots, most of which arise in the Afghanistan/Pakistan area, and we have got to deal with. To keep the streets safe in Britain, we have to take on Al-Qaeda wherever it is. I also have to say about Afghanistan that this is a mission that can work. The reason is, we are training up the Afghan soldiers and the Afghan police. So whenever we are in a mission abroad, we have to make sure that we have a means by which, in that country, they can build up their own security staff, so we can bring our troops home. That is my mission, that is my aim.

My first thoughts will always be for our troops, for our dedicated forces, our professional forces. Every day I meet people who have got people serving in Afghanistan or have served in other parts of the world. We have got to do everything we can to support them, yes there will be a defence review in the next parliament, so we can do our best by our forces. Look, what happened on Christmas Eve was a bomber who would have been in Detroit and bombing that plane, came from Somalia. That was really where he was given his orders from. So we have got to deal with Al-Qaeda in Somalia and Yemen, as well as in Pakistan. We've got to be clear, that we cannot allow terrorists to have territory in the world that then they use as a base for attacking the United Kingdom. I will do everything in my power to protect people, but we rely on the most brilliant, the most dedicated , the great forces that I want to pay tribute to this evening.