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 relationship between the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Through our diplomatic presence, we regularly engage with the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government. We continue to encourage constructive dialogue and cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil to resolve their outstanding issues, including around the federal budget, security cooperation, and the oil and gas sector. Priorities for the UK in Iraq include Parliamentary ratification of the UK-Iraq Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which establishes a framework for deepening the UK-Iraq partnership across areas of common interest such as security, people smuggling, environmental protection, and trade.