Listen to the debate

Speakers for the motion:

General Charles Vyvyan

Former Defence Attache in the British Embassy, Washington DC and Head of the British Defense Staff in the USA until 2000. Chairman of the consultancy Oxford Strategic, which he founded in 2003.

The Rt Hon Clare Short, MP

Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood since 1983. Secretary of State for International Development from 1997-2003. Author of An honourable Deception? New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power (2004), an attempt to explain why Tony Blair did what he did on Iraq so that the lessons can be learned and things put right. Resigned the Labour whip in Parliament in October 2006, but remains a member of the Labour Party.

Michael Griffin

Freelance editor, journalist and broadcaster. Was political analyst to the EU Presidential Election Observation Mission in 2004 and appears regularly on BBC platforms television and radio, and Sky as a commentator on Afghanistan, the Taliban, Al Qa’ida and its leadership. Has written for the NY Times, Guardian, El Pais, New Statesman and The Tablet.

Speakers against the motion:

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman

Professor of War Studies at King's College, London. Regular commentator on contemporary security issues and expert on strategic coercion and terrorism. His books include an Adelphi Paper on The Revolution in Strategic Affairs.

Christina Lamb

Award-winning journalist for The Sunday Times who has been covering Afghanistan for 20 years. Author of several books including The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years.

Dr Whitney Azoy

Dr Azoy serves in Kabul as Center Director and Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies. He has worked in Afghanistan as a diplomat, field anthropologist, refugee relief worker, reconstruction consultant, poetry translator, Pulitzer nominee journalist, and National Geographic filmmaker.

The debate was chaired by Matthew Leeming A traveller in Afghanistan since 1993 and contributor to The Spectator about the country since 2001. Author of Afghanistan: A Companion and Guide, widely regarded as the definitive book on the country's history and culture.

The votes:

Before the debate: for the motion 240, against the motion, 232

After the debate: for the motion 183, against the motion, 524