Chagos Islands

Al Pinkerton Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

Our NATO membership is utterly crucial. We have a “NATO first” strategy. The Prime Minister has met the Secretary-General in the last 48 hours, and I was with NATO colleagues at the North Atlantic Council just before Christmas. We are absolutely clear in our commitment to our NATO allies and our commitment to the United States. They form a bedrock of our security in a globally uncertain time, and that is also why we need to secure the base into the long-term future.

[Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) (LD)]

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting a large group of Chagossians who had come from, in some cases, as far away as France to discuss with Members of Parliament their feelings about this deal. I was one of only three MPs who turned up, and the Chagossians were devastated by that turnout. They told us that they had not been in any way meaningfully consulted about the deal, so the Minister has a challenge on his hands. He told the House that meaningful negotiations and discussions had taken place. He has a choice today: he can either tell us precisely what those consultations and negotiations were, or correct the record.

[Stephen Doughty]

I am rather confused by that question, because I have been very clear about the engagements that I have had with members of the Chagossian community. There were two, and I have given the dates on which they took place. We continue to engage with members of that community; in fact, my officials will meet some of them next week, and I look forward to meeting them again in due course.

As I have said many times before, I respect the range of differing views within the Chagossian community. For example, the Chagos Refugees Group—one of the largest Chagossian groups—has welcomed the agreement. There are a range of Chagossian groups around the world, as the hon. Gentleman knows, and we will continue to engage with them and listen to all their views. I can assure him that the interests of Chagossians are at the heart of this agreement.