It was such good news to see the horrific Isis death cult defeated in Mosul. Their brutality is beyond reasonable comprehension and I am sure we will soon begin to understand that in grim detail.
I recently took part in a major parliamentary debate on the Kurdistan Region. I have not yet been there but have heard disturbing direct testimony about girls who were enslaved and raped multiple times but managed to escape. I urged the government to help boost numbers of clinical psychologists in Iraq and Kurdistan to help manage their deep traumas.
I asked ministers to help churches and religious communities that are helping internally displaced people and refugees in Kurdistan.
I also praised the people-to-people diplomacy carried out by the Newcastle-Gateshead Medical Volunteers who are literally putting Kurds back on their own two feet through many free hip and knee operations.
The Kurds may be two thousand miles away but their bravery in fighting Isis has been a great and direct benefit to us all. We owe them a great debt and I know how keen they are to have the best relations with us because they have a deep affection for us as a people, and for our language and our businesses.
The people of Iraqi Kurdistan are voting in a referendum on independence in September and I have backed a cross-party Commons motion supporting the right of the Kurds to express their self-determination. Their freedom benefits the whole world.
