Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the current (a) political and (b) humanitarian situation in Lebanon.

Lebanon is facing a severe economic and political crisis, which the World Bank has warned could rank in the top ten, possibly top three, most severe crises globally since the mid-nineteenth century. Its people are suffering from the failure of Lebanon's political elites to form a government and deliver much-needed and long-promised reforms, exacerbated by the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion in August 2020.

The UK is a long-standing friend of Lebanon. Since 2011, the UK has allocated over £780 million in humanitarian and development funding to Lebanon. The UK and members of the International Support Group for Lebanon stand with the people of Lebanon in their time of need, but we are clear that Lebanon's leaders need to form a capable government and implement a credible reform process as the only sustainable way to address the crisis. I made this clear in my public message following Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Hariri's resignation on 15 July.