Oral Answers to Questions

Brendan O'Hara Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Duncan]

The answer to that is no.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

3. What role he plans that the UK will play in providing diplomatic assistance to help rebuild communities in Iraq and Syria.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

We will continue to support the Government of Iraq to deliver the reforms and reconciliation needed to build public trust and unite all Iraq’s communities against extremism. In Syria, we continue to work in support of a lasting settlement based on transition away from Assad, and towards a stable and peaceful future for Syria.

[Brendan O’Hara]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, but in light of what happened in Libya, when a failure to plan for the future plunged the country and the region into absolute chaos, will he tell me what lessons the UK learned from that experience and what his Department is doing to ensure a very different outcome in Iraq and Syria?

[Boris Johnson]

As the hon. Gentleman can imagine, a huge amount of work is going on now, particularly with respect to Mosul as I told the House at the previous Foreign Office questions. We announced a commitment to invest £169 million in aid towards reconciliation and bringing communities together. The House must understand, however, that fundamentally it is up to the Government of Iraq to work in a way that brings communities together, and builds trust and confidence in the people of Mosul and other parts of the country.