Speeches by Doughty.

“Yes, any military observers—anything that could compromise our security or that of Diego Garcia.”

“There is a requirement for joint agreement on a whole series of matters in this, and of course, dispute resolution mechanisms which are there clearly to prevent. We are very clear that the treaty prevents the presence of any forces on the outer islands that could be hostile to our interests.”

“My understanding is that Mauritius can, but we are very clear that the presence of foreign forces would require joint agreement. Therefore, we have an effective veto over the presence of any civilian or military forces on the outer islands or within reach of Diego Garcia. That is very important in terms of what we were…”

“We are all signed up to lots of different treaties—”

“We are absolutely clear that the base will continue to operate as it always has done, and we will be compliant with our international legal operations.”

“We are not a party to the Pelindaba treaty.”

“I am not going to go into the detail of hypothetical operational scenarios on Diego Garcia. They are long established. There are established protocols and ways of working, and we have an exchange of notes with them that we adhere to, but I am not going to go into hypothetical situations about the future.”

“What I will say is that we are absolutely clear that our agreement does not in any way infringe on our obligations. Of course, the UK is not a party to Pelindaba; we are only party to protocols 1 and 2. It is for African states to join the main part, but we are very clear that our obligations will be met going into the…”

“As you know, we do not comment on nuclear weapons issues, and certainly not in Parliament.”

“Absolutely, and as with any partner, we seek to keep them informed, but there is no requirement—again, this is something that has been wrongly implied at various points during this process—to do so before.”

“That is correct.”

“We are confident that that nothing in this treaty conflicts with our abilities to uphold international law, and to continue to operate the base as we do today. Mr Morello asked about relations with the United States. I draw your attention to paragraph 3 of the 1976 exchange of notes, which has all the information. It s…”

“It is a pleasure to be here. Thank you, Chair and members of the Committee. First and foremost, it is important to recognise how crucial Diego Garcia is to our national security and that of our allies. It is an essential military base, which has helped to keep us safe for decades, and in the volatile world that we are …”

“The position regarding Diego Garcia and the Chagos islands is, of course, unique. There is no comparison with other issues, and the suggestion that there is, particularly in the House and in the media, has been extremely unhelpful and unwelcome. You will know that the Chief Minister of Gibraltar came out very strongly …”

“No, as this is an international treaty. Once it has been ratified, it is binding on both the UK and Mauritius. We have both entered the treaty in good faith, and we are confident that the deal is fully compliant with a series of other international obligations. The treaty will be binding on us both.”

“The scrutiny process is the normal one for a treaty of this nature. It is 21 sitting days, and the treaty has obviously received a huge amount of scrutiny in both Houses. I have lost track of the hundreds of quite detailed questions I have answered, and it has also been subject to multiple urgent questions, debates and…”

“No, the treaty is going through the CRAG process now, but there will also be a Bill and secondary legislation to bring into effect a number of specific provisions that require primary and secondary legislation. There is an opportunity not only through the CRAG process but through legislative scrutiny in due course.”

“I certainly feel very well scrutinised on this treaty, and indeed on other treaties. I appeared before the Lords on the Ukraine-UK 100-year treaty, and we have a number of other treaties in the works that I am sure will also attract a lot of scrutiny. Fundamentally, it is a matter for the House and for colleagues who d…”

“Obviously, this is subject to the House business managers and our friends in the usual channels, but I suspect that it will be on the Floor of the House because of the constitutional nature of the Bill and, of course, we want it to have wide scrutiny. That is my expectation, but that has not yet been agreed with the bu…”

“It is both: the Bill and the treaty itself. The treaty’s first article sets that out and the Bill will have aspects in relation to that, too. But of course—this is a very important point—we will retain all rights and authorities to ensure the continued functioning of the Diego Garcia base, in accordance with how we ope…”