The quality of life for the majority of people in Iraq has improved since the end of the conflict, Jack Straw has told the Commons.

Speaking as allied troops and aid agencies continue to come under attack, the foreign secretary said normality was returning in most areas.

Despite claims that mission creep is giving way to a Vietnam factor, Straw remained upbeat about the situation on the ground.

"Life in many parts of Iraq is now better then before military action began," he told MPs.

"Power, water and sewage supplies have been restored, schools universities and hospitals in operation and a new currency has been introduced."

He added that economic activity is rising, oil production is increasing and "a remarkably free and active media" had emerged.

"Opinion polls taken inside Iraq show consistently high levels of support for the removal of Saddam by the coalition," he added.

But he warned that the security situation in areas such as Baghdad and the Sunni triangle "remain unsatisfactory".

"It is terrorist attacks which have led to the withdrawal of international staff of aid agencies and non-governmental organisations," added Straw.

Whilst he sidestepped claims that the situation would deteriorate unless coalition intelligence improved, Straw suggested more would be done to investigate the source of the terror threat.

"We accept that part of the effort to improve the security situation, along with direct military action and an improvement in the overall environment in which the majority of Iraqis are working and living, is an improvement in intelligence," he said.

And he conceded that troops would be likely to remain on the ground for some time to come.

"I hope very much that in a short while we will be there at the invitation of a sovereign Iraqi administration," he added.

The foreign secretary said that "a substantial international aid effort" had always been anticipated in post-conflict Iraq.

For the Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell said the reconstruction "simply cannot be allowed to fail".

But he warned that achieving stability in the region would require ministers "to be honest about how long it is going to take and how much it is going to cost".