Diego Garcia Military Base Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence
Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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Shaking your head and making comments —that is certainly not the example I want to see when I am looking to keep the House calm. I do not need the backchat; that has been going on for a while.

Alex Ballinger Portrait Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) (Lab)
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The Conservatives started negotiations on handing over the Chagos islands because they understood the national security implications of not doing a deal. Indeed, they did 11 rounds of negotiations on this deal. Now, with our closest security partners—the Americans, the Canadians, the Australians and the New Zealanders—all welcoming this deal, why are the Conservatives playing politics with our national security?

John Healey Portrait John Healey
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I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. He makes a powerful point in a judicious way. The shadow Defence Secretary could learn a bit from him.