THIS week’s news has been dominated by coverage of the G8 summit. The two main subjects discussed were how to tackle the civil war in Syria and tax evasion by large corporations – both topics that have attracted a heavy mailbag from constituents in recent weeks.

Firstly, Syria – the key issue is creating the conditions for a diplomatic resolution and the cessation of violence.

As outside observers, it is difficult to make judgements when the detail on the ground is so fluid.

The conflict is not black and white, and the actions of some extremist parts of the opposition are deeply concerning.

However, the fact remains that 93,000 people have died and half of Syria’s population has been displaced into neighbouring states, causing the conflict to spread.

This must be our focus: ensuring that the conflict does not destabilise the surrounding regions.

It is clear that throwing humanitarian aid at the problem will not make it disappear.

Lifting the EU embargo was the right decision, but arming the rebels is another question altogether. No decision has been taken and it is right that Parliament has a say on this issue.

Sadly, we are faced with a number of difficult choices: but the worst of these is allowing the violence to persist.

Whenever tax is discussed, people think of how much they pay and see corporations such as Amazon and Google paying comparatively little. Quite understandably this doesn’t seem fair.

Large companies must pay their fair share, but it is also vital that they continue to invest and create jobs in the UK.

It would be pointless to set up a punitive regime only to lose this valuable investment in UK jobs.

Such initiatives rightly take place at a global level to ensure that individual countries do not lose out.

It is right that developing countries do not lose out through aggressive avoidance – something I have been lobbied extensively on.

New international co-operation, together with UK tax experts helping emerging states collect the taxes due to them, will ensure we make progress on an international scale.