Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill

Stephen Gethins Excerpts

Monday 13th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

The hon. Lady asks an important question and, to be fair, the shadow Foreign Secretary asked it too. I can absolutely confirm that the costs associated with the treaty cannot be paid without the relevant legislation being passed, so she is absolutely right on that point. What I will say is that there has been wilful misinformation from a number of quarters on the costs associated with the deal. We published the forecast costs and the methodology used when we presented the treaty. We have answered questions on that many, many times, and the fact is that the costs associated with it are simply not what is being presented by the Opposition Front Bench—or indeed other parties in this place—particularly compared with, for example, what France pays for its base in Djibouti. This is 15 times larger, with immeasurably more capability, and we are not going to scrimp when it comes to the national security of this country.

[Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)]

Another day in this Parliament, another chaotic U-turn. I thank the Minister for being the latest to make the long walk from No. 10 to over here to announce said U-turn, and thank the one, solitary Labour MP who could be encouraged to stand up for the Government. I accept that the Tories made a mess of this, but I have to say that the excuse given by the Minister—that Donald Trump’s unpredictability was something that could not be foreseen—is something people will find very difficult to believe. On that lack of foresight, this is a serious issue and I know that the Minister treats it seriously, so will he tell us how much money has been wasted on this so far, what the implications are for national security, and what the implications are for the international rules-based system and the rights of the Chagossians who have been caught in the middle of this sad, sorry mess?