International Marine Protected Area: Sargasso Sea

Lord Mohammed of Tinsley Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Reaching viable agreements was not a strength of the previous Government. However, the fact that they had so many rounds of negotiation did speak to the fact that there was a problem which needed to be resolved. This Government came up with a viable proposition for its resolution. The problem remains, and it still needs to be resolved. Protection of the ocean around the archipelago is incredibly important, which is why we are working so intensively with Mauritius to ensure its protection.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

Given that, as we have just heard, it took 12 meetings for His Majesty’s Opposition to realise that, in their opinion, Mauritius was not a great place to protect the environment, does the Minister think that this is just rank hypocrisy on their part, given that they started those negotiations? Trying to blacken Mauritius and saying that it cannot protect the environment is not a great way of negotiating.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It is not for me to throw insults around this Chamber, but Mauritius itself has said that it does not feel that it is currently able to maintain and protect the ocean around the archipelago. I see that as a positive sign. What worries me is when a country claims to be able to do something which it demonstrably cannot; that is not the situation we are dealing with. The technical assistance needed to support the protection of the ocean, which is always going to be a collective endeavour, is taking place.