Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether their proposed arrangements for the military base at Diego Garcia meet the requirement in the 1966 agreement with the United States of America on the British Indian Ocean Territory that “the islands shall remain available to meet the possible defence needs of the two Governments for an indefinitely long period”.

I refer the Noble Baroness to my answer of 22 December in response to Question HL12714.