The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-05-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy with regard to future deployment of troops in (1) Iraq, and (2) Libya.

Earl Howe

In Iraq, the Government is already making a substantial contribution, with over 250 personnel who have provided training to more than 13,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces in infantry skills and countering improvised explosive devices. We keep the composition and scale of our contribution under close review, to reflect developments in the campaign.

We are discussing with international partners how to best support the new Libyan Government. This might include training Libyan forces to provide their own security, but no decisions have yet been made. There are no UK Government plans for the deployment of troops in a combat role to Libya. Any support the UK provides will be in response to a request made by the Libyan Government.