§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what request he has received for additional funding from the Ministry of Defence further to his commitment of £1.7 billion to meet the costs of military action in Iraq; [105679]
(2) what contingencies HM Treasury has put in place to fund the current conflict in Iraq; [105680]
(3) what research he has commissioned and what assessment his Department has made as to the cost of British involvement in Iraq for (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years and (e) five years or over; [105681]
(4) what estimate he has made of the cost to HM Treasury per man per day of the current conflict in Iraq. [105683]
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§ Mr. BoatengA contingency reserve of £1.75 billion was set aside to meet the cost of security and military preparations. Now that UK armed forces are in action in Iraq the Chancellor has announced a further £1.25 billion to increase the special reserves to £3 billion, to be drawn on as necessary. It is too early to make an assessment of the final costs of our involvement in Iraq. The Treasury does not estimate costs for such operations in the manner requested.
§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has had with(a) other European states, (b) the United States of America and (c) other coalition countries about the funding of the current conflict with Iraq. [105688]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Government have been in discussions with European states, the United States of America and other coalition countries on a wide range of issues regarding the present situation in Iraq.