Apropos of Dan Hardie’s latest update on the conditions facing current and former Iraqi employees of UK forces in the Basra area, I’ve been informed that the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, will be taking part in a live web chat on Friday 30th November, starting at 13:45.

This is an obvious chance to raise questions about the government’s hitherto poor response to this issue – they’ve, so far, offered these people nothing they wouldn’t be entitled to if recognised as a refugee by UNHCR – with one of Ministers responsible and challenge the government to do better – or should I say live up to their moral responsibilities and do the right thing.

Questions can be submitted in advance – and expect them to be carefully screened – but this is an opportunity to challenge the government directly and one that needs to be taken.

Please do, however, remember to be polite and stick to the point, as this should give you the best chance of getting a question through – I’ve already put one in, which asks simply whether Miliband would agree that the government has a moral duty to do more than it has already.

Also, from experience, keep the questions relatively general/generic – questions about specific individuals. incidents or news reports are unlikely to get through moderation or, at best, will get a ‘don’t comment on individual cases’ response.

And do, if possible, sneak in a reference to Dan (and Liberal Conspiracy as well, if you can) – as one thing we perhaps need to impress on Miliband is that this is coming from a constituency that he should have sympathies with, if not be actively courting for support come the next general election.

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