Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of progress on defeating Daesh; and what steps his Department plans to take to protect national security from the threat of terrorism.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK is making a significant contribution to the coalition of more than 60 countries, supporting the Iraqi security forces to deny ISIL the freedom to operate in 30% of the Iraqi territory it once held, helping Syrian Kurds take 17,000 sq km from ISIL in Syria, and degrading ISIL’s ability to refine oil or to access the international financial system.

But defeating ISIL is not a military task alone and the global coalition is working to defeat ISIL on all fronts – militarily, cutting off ISIL finance, reducing the influx of fighters, challenging its ideology and providing humanitarian assistance.

Within the UK the Home Office has the lead for counter terrorism but certain military specialist capabilities are always available, should they be required.