The Government’s proposed assistance for Iraqis whose lives are at risk after helping British forces does not go far enough, the Liberal Democrats said today.

Commenting on today’s written ministerial statement, Iraq: assistance to locally employed staff, Liberal Democrat Shadow International Development Secretary, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

"The lives of our troops have depended on the work of these people. We have a moral duty to protect them after such bravery and loyalty.

"Yet the Government has chosen to repay them with a list of conditions and criteria that the vast majority have no hope of meeting.

"To exclude those who worked for British authorities before 2005 and for less than a year is unforgivable. The basis for asylum should be one of assessed risk, not length of service.

"The death squads in Iraq don’t stop to ask how long interpreters served for us, so why are we?"