Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Defence in response to the question from the hon. Member for South Suffolk during Oral Questions to the Ministry for Defence on 18 November 2024, for what reason he will not publish the cost of the Chagos settlement.

As confirmed in my response to the hon Member's oral question to me during urgent questions on 2 December 2024, he will know as a former Defence Minister, while the Ministry of Defence routinely discloses running costs for overseas bases and training areas it is long-standing policy, followed by successive Governments, that payments made by Government to Governments are not revealed.