Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential reputational or political risk to the Government of the decision to enter an agreement with Bahrain to establish a naval base in the Gulf.

The UK has had a naval presence in Bahrain for many years but our facilities there have been temporary and of a low standard. The purpose of the defence arrangement, signed by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) in Bahrain on 6 December, is to improve and bolster the existing facilities to provide the Royal Navy with a forward operating base and accommodation for Royal Navy personnel. The UK greatly values its partnership with Bahrain on regional security issues, which forms an important part of our wider bilateral relationship with the Government of Bahrain.