Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the threat ISIS and other Islamist groups in Syria pose to (a) the wider Middle East and (b) other areas.

The UK is deeply concerned by the growth of terrorism in Syria and Iraq. ISIL are a brutal terrorist group who want to impose rule on people using their extremist ideology, violence and extortion.

ISIL's advance in Iraq shows that they are a serious threat. It shows clearly the importance of taking a strong stand against extremists, and that is why we are giving our full backing to the moderate groups in Syria who are fighting them. It is not yet clear what the recent developments in Iraq mean in the longer term, but clearly ISIL's ability to operate in both Syria and Iraq is a cause of concern for the international community.