Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Richard Foord
Main Page: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)Department Debates - View all Richard Foord's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
Richard Foord Excerpts(1 day, 8 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Stephen Doughty
Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would like to publish what costs the then Government were willing to pay for this deal.
Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) (LD)
In answer to a recent written question, a Defence Minister confirmed that
“all decisions on whether to approve foreign nations’ use of military bases in the UK for operational purposes considers the legal basis and policy rationale for any proposed activity.”
Can the Minister confirm that this commitment on the use of military bases in the UK by allies such as the US also applies to the military base at Diego Garcia?
Stephen Doughty
I am afraid that I might need to write to the hon. Gentleman with the detail on that very specific point, but I can assure him that our operation of military bases, whether alone or with allies, is always in accordance with international law. That is why we have followed the process that we have in updating the different pieces of legislation and other agreements that need to be updated.