Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been their total expenditure on military action in Syria and Iraq.

From August 2014 to 31 March 2016, the net additional costs of counter-Daesh activity in Iraq and Syria were £265 million. These costs were met from a combination of the HM Treasury Special Reserve and the Deployed Military Activity Pool (DMAP). The £265 million is split into £45 million in financial year 2014-15, and £220 million in financial year 2015-16.

This activity was to support UK military activity to degrade and ultimately defeat Daesh. It has included airstrikes in support of coalition ground operations and airborne intelligence gathering operations in Iraq and Syria, as well as helping to train the Iraqi Security Forces and moderate Syrian opposition.