The Traffic-Light Opposition has tonight demanded that the UK recognise and support Kurdish independence in the aftermath of a contentious referendum.Submitting a motion to the House of Commons, Wiredcookie1, the shadow foreign secretary, argued that "the Kurdish independence referendum is a piece of history in the making. The Kurds have voted and the world needs to see that. They want their independence and that is very clear."

He called on the government to "respect the result, recognise the result, and work with all sides to come to a solution which avoids the region from becoming more unstable than it already."



In demanding the government respect the result, he reverses on earlier praise given to ncontas who ruled out recognising the referendum earlier this week. On Tuesday Wiredcookie1 said that "the [foreign] secretary has handled this well in a clear and calm statement. "



The government has argued that they cannot support Kurdish independence or recognise the referendum due to "risks leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians - both Kurdish and Iraqi - open to a potential resumption of violence and terror."



"What is needed today is our full attention on the defeat of Daesh and the returning stability of liberated areas. Legitimate Kurdish grievances should be settled in direct talks with the Iraqi government."



Rather than recognising the referendum and result, the government has instead proposed an alternate plan that "would entail direct talks between the Iraqi National Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government - talks in which the inalienable rights and just aspirations of the Kurdish people must be respected."