Speeches by Doughty.

“Committee rose.”

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“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. These regulations amend the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Before I begin, I want to place on the record—I am sure this is shared by all colleagues—our utter horror at the attacks meted out by…”

“I genuinely appreciate the scrutiny in the questions raised by hon. Members. I appreciate the wholehearted support for the package as a whole from the shadow Minister. He asked me about further operations, but he will understand that I will not get into those here. But let us be clear that we sent a strong signal with …”

“Of course. As I said, I do not want to mislead the Committee: if there is something more technical in that language, but I will happily copy the hon. Gentleman into my correspondence. I assure him that we work closely with EU partners, including the Republic of Ireland, to establish whether anybody can use any routes a…”

“I thank the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for securing the debate, and all the right hon. and hon. Members who have contributed. It has been a thoughtful and important discussion on an issue that goes to the heart of our national security, our prosperity and our values. I can reassure the House that th…”

“Committee rose.”

“I beg to move, That the Cttee has considered the Syria (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I., 2026, No. 436). It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Mrs Harris. The regulations amend the Syria (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, …”

“I thank the Opposition and Lib Dem spokespeople for their remarks and questions, and for their broad support of the regulations. They both reflected on some of the things that are still leading to instability and risk in Syria, which I referred to in my opening remarks. They can be assured that we are keeping these mea…”

“I can absolutely assure the hon. Gentleman of that. We would not have signed off the deal without those assurances. The Ministry of Defence, the Defence Secretary and others were fully involved at all stages of the process. We have been very clear that the treaty protects the operational autonomy of our military facili…”

“I can assure my hon. Friend of that. It is important to note that Gibraltar’s sovereignty was never on the table in the negotiations—we have been very clear about that throughout. The agreement has been supported by and worked through with the Government of Gibraltar throughout, and it was unanimously supported by Gibr…”

“Yesterday I appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee—its Chair, my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), is in the House—after the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, to set out this process and to engage in the very important scrutiny that the House provides on this matter. We…”

“My hon. Friend raises an important question on behalf of his constituents. Our long-term national interest, and indeed the interest of businesses in his constituency, requires a closer EU partnership anchored in common understanding. We are tackling trade barriers, and we are working hard on these issues with the Payma…”

“The hon. Lady raises a crucial issue, and I work closely with the Security Minister and others on these matters. Our electoral system is highly resilient and to date we have not seen evidence of successful Russian interference in UK democratic processes. However, we know that the Kremlin is seeking to sow discord in th…”

“As I set out yesterday, the timetable is not entirely in our control, because it relates to the other party in the treaty, the EU, and its processes. Mr Speaker, you will know that I brought forward the entire text of the draft treaty so that this House had a chance to scrutinise it. I have also provided briefings to t…”

“With the exception of when I broke my ankle before Christmas, I have never limped to this House on any occasion. I came here with confidence to set out the reasons why this treaty was needed for our national security. Our officials engage regularly not only with Mauritius, but with the United States and other partners.…”

“The Minister for the Cabinet Office has set out answers to those questions.”

“The right hon. Gentleman will know that we have publicly accessible registers in some of the overseas territories—in Gibraltar and Montserrat—and there has been welcome progress on legitimate interest access registers in a number of them, including in recent weeks, but I absolutely agree that we need to go much further…”

“I have a lot of respect for the hon. Gentleman, but I simply disagree with the premise of what he says. Chagossians who have been coming to this country have come because of agreements made under the previous Government for them to acquire British citizenship, which entitles them to come here. Support has been provided…”

“As I have said many times in this House, Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for the United Kingdom, the United States and our allies, and ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority. We remain confident that the UK-Mauritius treaty is the best way to defend the future…”