Diego Garcia and British Indian Ocean Territory

Lord Purvis of Tweed Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

My Lords, the people who have found their way to some of the outer islands should not be there. It is not safe for them and they do not have permission. It is not legal for anybody to visit those islands without a permit. They do not have such a permit and they should leave immediately. It is deeply irresponsible that they are encouraging others to join them and there is a risk to life in doing so. I hope that they leave of their own accord safely, but promptly.

The noble Lord is right that this base is of vital strategic importance. It is an expression of our incredibly close security and defence relationship with the United States, which is why we have gone to such lengths to secure the future of the base.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I am sure the House will note the fact that Conservative MPs, Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson, all of whom proclaim to love their country, actively undermine it when they are in the State Department and the White House. However, given President Trump’s statement, it is now necessary for us to be presented with what would be a binding decision with the United States, our key ally in the use of the military base. If there is a pause, does the Minister agree that this is an opportunity for there to be a statutory right for the Chagossian community with regards to resettlement, active participation from the Chagossian community on decisions that affect them, greater clarity on the value for money for our taxpayers if there is to be a long-term treaty, and a greater role for this Parliament in holding any government to account over the lifetime of that treaty?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It is very important that we lay out clearly the costings and the value for money points are answered. I am happy that the Government have committed to doing that and will continue to do so.

On the participation of Chagossians, we have discussed this at great length in the past, and for very good reason. We are able to find ways, together with Mauritius, to make sure that Chagossians are properly represented and able to exert influence within the treaty around the trust fund, their ability to resettle in the future, who is entitled to do so and all these issues. It is probably a good idea for us to continue those conversations to make sure that is done as well as it possibly can be.

On the stability of the US position, I take the point. We had secured very clear and firm support for the deal from Secretary Rubio and President Trump. We continue to have close, intense conversations with our dearest allies and partners about the consistency of this decision, in order that we may be able to move forward with this treaty which, as I have said, secures our ability to operate together with the United States from Diego Garcia.