Chagos Islands
Baroness Whitaker Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
My understanding is that the process will be the usual one for agreeing these treaties. We need to be careful about the use of the word “consultation”, because there will be an opportunity to listen to the views of Chagossian communities and to understand that there is more than one view among them about this deal. It would be wrong to give the impression that there would be an opportunity to have a treaty changed in light of Chagossian voices. We can all have a view on that, and some of us might wish that it could be otherwise, but when we are dealing with a matter of security like this in the Indian Ocean, and with a treaty between two Governments, it is far better if we are up front and honest about what will be possible during that process.
Baroness Whitaker (Lab)
My Lords, is this not something of a trumped-up objection on the part of the Opposition? Does my noble friend agree that the previous Government never questioned the legitimacy of Mauritius’s eventual sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, very many years ago and internationally confirmed? Does she further agree that the majority of Chagossians do agree with this, and that all Chagossians are now being consulted by the Government? But can she say whether our Government are also discussing the resettlement plans with Mauritius?
British Indian Ocean Territory: Negotiations
Baroness Whitaker Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
I did not say that we would not disclose what we are putting in the fund for Chagossian resettlement; I said that the Foreign Secretary will make a more detailed statement at the time that the treaty is signed. We do not disclose the costs of basing overseas. We do not, and I do not think other nations do, either. We are very clear about that. We do disclose some of the associated costs; the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, mistakenly tried to make an equivalence between the two, but we will not be disclosing the costs of basing.
Baroness Whitaker (Lab)
When James Cleverly announced the Conservative Government’s policy of negotiations with Mauritius, one outlying MP, who has since lost his seat, under the banner of the anxiety of a small group among all other Chagossians, asserted that colonial ownership of the so-called British Indian Ocean Territory was better than the decision of concerted international and much British opinion on the rights of this long-running injustice. The agreement preserves the long-standing UK/US base on Diego Garcia. Do the Opposition not want that to be funded? It is mysterious to me why, all of a sudden, this furore has erupted.
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
The noble Baroness puts it very well and I think she does know why this furore may have erupted. I have said all I need to say about my views on that.
British Indian Ocean Territory
Baroness Whitaker Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
Noble Lords may or may not be aware that there is no single Chagossian voice on these issues; Chagossians live here in the UK, but many also live in Mauritius itself and in the Seychelles. The treaty will come before both Houses in the usual way, and there will be amendable primary legislation alongside it that will deal with some of the changes we need to make to the law in order to ratify the treaty.
Baroness Whitaker (Lab)
My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on solving this issue, which was handled appallingly for many years during the last Government, and which has rightly been applauded by all the American players. First, will she confirm that the Government of Mauritius, one of the African democracies, have never shown any interest in an alliance with China, least of all over anything like this? Secondly, will the question of the right of the Chagossians not only to return, which is enormously welcomed by them, but to live on the outer islands remain on the table for discussion with the Americans so that, in due course, a resolution to that problem can be made?
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
The agreement, which noble Lords will be able to look at in detail in the treaty, will allow for Chagossians to return to the outer islands. There has been a lot of old nonsense spoken about China in relation to Mauritius. Mauritius is one of only two African countries that do not take part in belt and road. It is a member of the Commonwealth and a close ally of India.