Diego Garcia Military Base

Debate between James Cleverly and Josh Fenton-Glynn

Thursday 22nd May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Josh Fenton-Glynn]

Will the hon. Member let me finish? I have on a number of occasions intervened on Conservative Members to ask them to name the Chagos islands, and they have been unable to tell me that there is Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, the Salomon islands, the Egmont islands—

[Sir James Cleverly]

Well, you had to write them down.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn]

I do not share the right hon. Member’s passion.

Similarly, the Leader of the Opposition first tweeted about the Chagos islands in October 2024. That was five years after the ICJ ruling and two years after negotiations started. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Conservatives’ new-found passion for the Chagos islands perhaps owes more to political opportunism than to any deeply held conviction?