Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the political situation in Lebanon.

The UK wants to see Lebanon stable, secure, and prosperous. We are working with the authorities to support the efforts of a caretaker government to safeguard Lebanon's stability and set the country on the path to recovery, but we are clear that these efforts are undermined by the ongoing Presidential vacuum. The government of Lebanon urgently needs to end the political deadlock and appoint a President who can deliver the reforms necessary to solve the country's economic and security crises and agree a political solution to de-escalate tensions across the Blue Line boundary with Israel. Ministers frequently raise this with Lebanese interlocutors. The Foreign Secretary emphasised the need for a president to Prime Minister Mikati and Foreign Minister Bou Habib during his visit to Lebanon in August and Minister Falconer most recently raised it with Lebanon's Acting Central Bank Governor on 5 September.