Diego Garcia Military Base

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Alex Ballinger

Thursday 22nd May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Shaking your head and making comments —that is certainly not the example I want to see when I am looking to keep the House calm. I do not need the backchat; that has been going on for a while.

[Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) (Lab)]

The Conservatives started negotiations on handing over the Chagos islands because they understood the national security implications of not doing a deal. Indeed, they did 11 rounds of negotiations on this deal. Now, with our closest security partners—the Americans, the Canadians, the Australians and the New Zealanders—all welcoming this deal, why are the Conservatives playing politics with our national security?