Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of some (1) European, and (2) Middle-Eastern, states seeking to re-open diplomatic relations with the government of Syria; and in particular, whether they see this as a (a) pragmatic, and (b) realistic, step.

The UK closed the British Embassy in Damascus in 2012 and has no plans to re-open it. It is up to each sovereign state to make its own decisions on its representation in Syria, but we believe the Assad regime has lost its legitimacy due to its atrocities against the Syrian people and must now engage seriously with the UN political process.