Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to promote relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government of Iraq.

The UK supports a secure, stable, and thriving Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) within a peaceful and prosperous Iraq. We continue to encourage greater cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil to resolve their outstanding issues, such as those related to the federal budget, the oil and gas sector, payment of public salaries, and security cooperation. As intra-Kurdish tensions are impeding progress from being made, Ministers and senior UK officials have advocated repeatedly for unity and increased cooperation within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), including respect for democratic processes.