Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Warsi (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 19 March 2015.

Syria and Iraq: Daesh

Question: My Lords, do the Government have a cross-government agreement on how they refer to Daesh? If they do not, would they consider that? I suggest that they seriously consider using the word “Daesh”.

Answer: I sympathise entirely with my noble friend. I am aware from when I talk to my Foreign Minister counterparts throughout the region that they find it puzzling that in this country the media and therefore the Government continue to use the term “ISIL”. They prefer “Daesh”, and I understand the significance of that. However, at the moment we find that if we talk about Daesh the media become puzzled. I take my noble friend’s point, and we will indeed consider how we can discuss that further.

Secondary information