"I do not think they are wrong. The problem, however, is that that option was unlikely to be available to us indefinitely. We needed to find a solution that was legally secure and that could not be challenged. Had we waited, as noble Lords opposite have encouraged the Government to …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"I do not know of any treaty that can be rewritten unilaterally. As for the words of my honourable friend Stephen Doughty, I will let him know that this House considers its role as a revising Chamber to be very serious. I know that the vast majority of Members of …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"I do not know about it being perfectly obvious. There were many things said last week that it is probably best we do not treat as emblematic or representative of the nature of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. We continue to have detailed conversations about …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat in the form of a Statement the Answer given by my honourable friend the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories to an Urgent Question in another place on the Diego Garcia Military Base and …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"I am glad that the noble Lord opposite has finally reread my contributions in this place from, I think, November, when I talked about an exchange of notes that would be needed with the United States in relation to the 1966 treaty. I am glad he has internalised what I …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"It is my understanding that the situation with regard to the 1966 treaty has certainly been understood by my Government, and, I am assuming—I cannot see that it would not have been—by the previous Government. That makes this rather late-in-the-day pseudo-alarm seem rather strange—but here we are. I agree with …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend, the chair of the ISC, for drawing that to our attention. I was not aware that that accusation had been made, but of course it is completely untrue and unfounded. I can only think that these things get bandied around in the heat of debate, …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"We talk with our allies and partners on this constantly, and we continue to talk to our friends in the United States because they are integral to this agreement...." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"No. The noble Lord is completely wrong in his assertion about the motivation for doing this deal. This is about keeping this country and its citizens safe. That will always be the first priority of this Government. It is unedifying to see His Majesty’s Opposition take any opportunity to jump …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech
"I know the noble Lord does not always want me to be nice to him on the Floor of the House, but I must say that the Liberal Democrats, much as they have had their issues with this agreement, have always been focused on the rights of the Chagossian communities …..." Baroness Chapman of Darlington - View Speech