Speeches by Doughty.

“I praise my hon. Friend for his service and work. I am very clear: our allies in the United States and, indeed, our other allies who rely on the important guarantees that the base provides are supportive of the deal. It has been supported across the security apparatus at every level and that is absolutely crucial. We w…”

“We very much welcome, as I have said before, the election of President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance. During the transition period, there are restrictions on what conversations can go on. As I have said repeatedly in the House, we are confident that when the full details of the deal are provided by the US …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her important work on Gibraltar, as I thank you for yours, Mr Speaker. I have said this before and I will confirm again that we are absolutely and resolutely committed to the sovereignty and self-determination of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. Indeed, I enjoyed meeting our overseas terri…”

“The right hon. Gentleman knows that I have immense respect for him and his work in this House. I take issue with his choice of words. We have incredible officials in this Government who have loyally served Governments from parties on both sides of this House. They work incredibly hard to defend the national security an…”

“As I have said a number of times in the House, the treaty, once signed, will go through the normal procedures in the House. I confirmed that in my answer to the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel). There will be the opportunity for ample scrutiny by both Houses and legislation will be laid in due course.”

“I have repeatedly stated a number of positive things, including the support for Chagossians that will be inherent in the deal. The positive fact is that after 11 rounds of failed negotiations under the previous Government, we achieved and have done a deal. We are confident that that deal will be supported by our partne…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Despite the attempts to constantly whip up the idea about Chinese influence, the deal contains specific precautions to prevent foreign forces. I remind the House again that Mauritius was one of the only countries that did not join the belt and road initiative. Its ally is India, not …”

“I have engaged with many Chagossian groups. The hon. Member will know, as I have said multiple times, that there are a range of views across the Chagossian community. He is perfectly able to look at the legal judgments himself. The fact is that the Government wanted to secure the long-term operation of the base, our na…”

“No, I have not, and I certainly have not heard them from the Opposition Benches.”

“When we are looking to protect the national security of this country, we will operate at the fastest and most appropriate pace that we can. This matter had been left languishing under the previous Administration, with the future of the base unsecure. We have secured it.”

“It is absolutely right that the House scrutinises these matters and it will continue to have the opportunity to do so in a range of forums; indeed, I will meet parliamentarians later today to discuss them. There appears to be collective amnesia among Conservative Members. I have raised this a number of times. Many of t…”

“We have been very clear that these negotiations are between the United Kingdom and Mauritius, and I have set out in the past the reasons for that. The interests of the Chagossians are absolutely at the heart of this agreement, and as I have said, I have repeatedly engaged with them. The hon. Gentleman continues to spec…”

“I have engaged with the Chagossian community twice in recent months, as I have made clear in answers to a number of parliamentary questions tabled by the right hon. Gentleman’s colleagues. The interest of the Chagossians will continue to be at the heart of this agreement, and I take their concerns very seriously. I am …”

“I agree with the right hon. Member’s characterisation of what happened to the Chagossians in the past. It is a matter of deep regret for this Government, and, indeed, I think that regret is shared across the House. As I have said, we will have the interests of the Chagossians at the heart of this agreement. He is right…”

“The only thing I would urge the Committee to consider, as well as small island states around the world and, indeed, the global sea rise and erosion effects globally, is that in our British family we have a number of small island states. I was just in the OTs in the Caribbean speaking with them directly about what they …”

“Thank you very much for inviting us to be here today. We take these issues extremely seriously, both within my own responsibilities but also working across government, particularly given the missions that the Prime Minister has set out on climate change, on energy and on green transition and nature protection. Those el…”

“I am Stephen Doughty. I am Minister of State at the FCDO, with responsibility for the polar regions.”

“Absolutely, Chair. We are well aware of the risks and the threats and that is why we are taking many of the actions that we are, whether that is the investment in the science, the investment in our facilities and resources, the investment in the diplomacy around this. It is one of the reasons why I have been trying to …”

“I probably would not agree with the characterisation of the treaty in that respect. We are committed to it. We are committed to making it a success. We also deal with a very complex and contested world at the moment, and we could fire off criticisms at all sorts of other multilateral agreements and bodies, but they are…”

“On that point I completely agree. I think the Antarctic and the Arctic need to have far more attention in our minds, not only for the devastating potential shifts and loss of habitat biodiversity, the sea level rise risks, the wider feedback loop risks within the global environment and climate and the oceans itself and…”