Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Government support for armed opposition groups in Syria in each year since 2012.

Through the Conflict Pool and its successor, the Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) for Syria, the UK has provided political support and non-lethal equipment to the moderate opposition. In terms of equipment, we have provided communications, medical and logistics equipment. We have also provided equipment to protect against chemical weapons attack. The UK does not supply weapons to anybody in Syria. The value of this support was £32 million for the period 2011-17.