NORTH Wiltshire MP James Gray has packed his bags and headed off to Iraq to find out for himself about the post-war situation.

"With quite a number of people from this area - including but not limited to very many servicemen and women from RAF Lyneham, from 9 Regiment Royal Logistics Corp at Hullavington and 21 Signals Regiment at Colerne - I grabbed an opportunity to visit our armed forces in Iraq," he said.

Mr Gray departed on Monday, boarding an RAF plane at Brize Norton for the flight to Basra.

"I am particularly keen to find out how we conducted the Basra operation and what a contrast there may be there to the American operation in Baghdad," he said.

He wanted to find out about the rebuilding both of the infrastructure and of Government and local government - and what the view is on the ground about the motivation for the war.

"I was sorry not to be able to board a plane from RAF Lyneham, which played such an absolutely crucial role in the war," he said.

"But of course jets leave only from Brize Norton. I nonetheless took the opportunity of bending the ear of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sir Peter Squire at the excellent Classics on the Wing Concert at Lyneham on Saturday, and will make sure that I get hold of Defence Minister Adam Ingram on my return from Iraq.

"The fate of Lyneham remains uncertain but I expect that we will have some kind of announcement in the next few weeks."

Mr Gray will return to Britain tomorrow.