Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his oral contribution of 20 November 2023, Official Report, column 4, on what date he asked the Chief of the Defence Staff to review the position of UK personnel in the Middle East; and what estimate he has made of when that review will be complete.

Force protection of UK deployed personnel is the responsibility of the Chief of Joint Operations. At the 9 October COBR (Ministerial) pre-brief in the Ministry of Defence, the Secretary of State directed the Chief of Defence Staff to review the force protection posture of UK personnel in the Middle East in light of the evolving situation there.

The Chief of Joint Operations completed this on 20 October, which is kept under constant review.