Oral Answers to Questions

Stuart Andrew Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are very short of time, but I want to make further progress.

[Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)]

11. What assessment he has made of the prospects of defeating ISIL in Iraq.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Philip Hammond)]

Since operations by the global coalition began last year, ISIL has lost more than 30% of the territory it once controlled in Iraq. Most recently, Kurdish forces retook Sinjar, and Iraqi security forces have taken Baiji and are preparing to take Ramadi. Slowly but surely, ISIL is being pushed back, and I am confident that it will be driven out of Iraq in time.

[Stuart Andrew]

As chair of the all-party group on Islamo- phobia, I do wish we would formally refer to these people as Daesh. As they are steadily pushed back in Iraq, does my right hon. Friend agree that cutting their supply lines with Syria will hasten its defeat and, importantly, bring about the restoration of Iraq’s territorial integrity.

[Mr Hammond]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. Of course, the retaking of Sinjar is a very important step in that, as it sits astride the most important supply route from Raqqa into Iraq. Ultimately, we need not just to cut the supply lines, but to go to the heart and the head of the beast in Raqqa.