Des Browne Quotations

With the enhancements to the security of the passport document itself that biometric technology will bring, it is time to make equivalent enhancements to the process of establishing identity before issuing passports.

The process of establishing the identity of passport applicants needs to be strengthened by introducing a requirement for some applicants to attend a passport office in person.

Nuclear weapons are infinitely less important in our foreign policy than they were in the days of the Cold War. I don't think we need nuclear weapons any longer.

It will require a sustained military and financial commitment by the international community, working with the government of Afghanistan, to create the environment in which enduring democratic institutions can be established.

I agree with the British Legion that we have a responsibility to support our troops and support their families, particularly when we are asking people to do very difficult and dangerous things for our security.

You can't talk about defeating insurgencies in the same way that you can with a conventional army.

While we are deploying troops in their thousands, we lose the chance to build up their basic skills.

The Helmand area used to be the breadbasket of Afghanistan. There was a time when a substantial number of the grapes we ate came from Afghanistan.

I will do what the Prime Minister asks me to do; that is my consistent approach to politics and to service.

I am sorry to be leaving the post of secretary of state for Scotland.