Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill

Order of Commitment

Moved by

That the Bill be committed to a Committee of the Whole House.

My Lords, we had a vigorous debate on the Bill at Second Reading last week, and I thank each and every noble Lord who participated in that debate. I understand and respect the concerns that have been raised, both inside and outside this House. It is worth repeating what I said last week: this Government are committed to supporting—indeed, encouraging—the thorough scrutiny of this Bill throughout its progression.

Noble Lords will understand the reason for the delay to the committal Motion last week. The Opposition’s lack of notice to the House regarding their amendment to the Motion made it impractical to proceed. I am pleased that, now the dust has settled, we are able to proceed with the committal Motion as originally planned. I reassure noble Lords that this short interruption will not impact the timing of Committee, which will be on 18 and 25 November.

The debate at Second Reading reflected the strength of feeling across the House on this important issue, and I will take this opportunity to address some of those concerns. Last week, we heard the concern across the House that Chagossian perspectives were not sufficiently reflected in the treaty and the Bill. I respect and understand this concern. However, noble Lords will also know that there is a considerable diversity of opinion across Chagossian communities. To inform further debate on this matter, and to demonstrate the Government’s commitment to the Chagossian community, the Government invite the International Relations and Defence Committee to engage a range of Chagossians to ascertain their views on the implications of the Diego Garcia treaty, and to produce a report. This process will not hold up the passage of the Bill but will be a welcome addition to debate in the House. It will be for the committee to determine the timing of the report, and I extend my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, who has agreed in principle to undertake this work.

I also welcome the challenge we heard to increase the participation of Chagossians in political processes. Noble Lords will know that the Government have established a Chagossian contact group to provide Chagossians with a formal role in decision-making on the UK Government’s support for their community. Following last week’s debate, the Government will explore opportunities to enhance that group by increasing its transparency and frequency. We are clear, however, that any decisions about the contact group must be made in agreement with its existing members. The Government will engage the group on this question shortly.

Further concerns were raised at Second Reading about the Chagossian trust fund and British Chagossians’ eligibility for resettlement. The Government are committed to making a Statement about both to the House as soon as can be practically achieved. Noble Lords will understand that this should happen only with the agreement of the Mauritian Government, which the Government are urgently pursuing.

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Callanan will respond to the Minister on behalf of these Benches, but I have been requested to make a brief intervention on defence and security. I am rather in the horns of a dilemma; I feel as though I am being asked to judge the weight of the baby when the baby has not yet been born, because I do not know what the Minister’s letter will say until I receive it. However, I thank her and her colleagues for their genuine and close engagement with me, my noble friend Lord Callanan and our colleagues as we endeavour to clarify issues.

The assurance I seek from the Minister at the Dispatch Box is this. It is possible that, when we receive her letter, we may disagree with the Government’s interpretation. We may consider that areas of ambiguity and doubt remain and would reserve the right to bring forward amendments in Committee. I would be very disappointed if the Government’s response were that these amendments were out of scope of the Bill and that all matters are dealt with by the agreement. That would be a very unfortunate response, so I seek a reassurance from the Minister at the Dispatch Box that, if we tabled amendments on defence and security issues, the Government would be prepared to debate them.

My Lords, briefly, I mentioned last week the Chagos Refugee Group led by Olivier Bancoult, the biggest group of Chagossians. I want to quote two paragraphs from a statement that he has made today:

“I wish to explain how important it is for the British Government to make amends for the cruel treatment of our Chagossian community, by endorsing the Diego Garcia and BIOT Bill at the Committee stage in the House of Lords … With the UK government set to return Chagos to its rightful sovereign, we urge all House of Lords members to support and pass this measure to aid the Chagossian community. To delay or frustrate it will cause further societal damage to our worldwide community”.

I think that injunction is worth taking on board.

My Lords, this is the bit of unfinished business from last week—it is a little more temperate too, so far. I note the agreement between the Conservative Opposition and the Labour Government to advance the Bill to its next stages in implementing the treaty. These Benches hold our committees in this House in high regard. I am certain that the IRDC will carry out the work diligently and provide much valued information for us in advance of Report.

I hope that amendments that any Member might wish to bring in Committee will be considered in the normal way, within the scope of the Long Title of the Bill. Questions have been raised consistently by these Benches on right of return, determining the views of the Chagossian community on self-determination, the legal underpinning of the MPA—it is a positive development but we nevertheless seek further information on how it will be guaranteed and underwritten in Mauritian law—oversight of expenditure to the benefit of the Chagossian community in particular, and the mechanisms by which the community, whose rights have been denied them for generations, as my noble friend said, can have rights going forward. We hope that all these aspects can be aired properly in Committee and, if we seek to test the opinion of the House, on Report. I note the agreement between the Opposition and the Government. We should get on with considering the issues that these Benches have raised consistently.

My Lords, I thank the Government and the Chief Whip in particular for the constructive discussions we have had since Second Reading. As the House will be aware, we took the unusual step of tabling an amendment to the committal Motion last week which would have required a government consultation of the Chagossian community before the beginning of Committee. Surprisingly, the Government then withdrew their committal Motion.

I am pleased that, following discussions in the usual channels over the past week, the Government have confirmed that Report will now not commence before the new year, allowing more time for proper scrutiny of this important Bill. This will allow the views of the Chagossian community to be taken into account as part of our scrutiny of the Bill on Report. It is very welcome news that the Government have committed to publishing further details of the Chagossian contact group and on the trust fund for the Chagossians.

Finally, I welcome the statements of my noble friend Lady Goldie and hear that the Government have committed to respond in detail to the legitimate concerns she has raised on the defence aspects of the treaty and, I hope, lay a copy of their response in the Library. In the light of positive movement from the Government, we will not seek to oppose the Motion today.

I thank noble Lords who have taken part in this debate.

On the point from the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, about being asked to judge the weight of the baby before the baby is born, I am in a similar position on her amendments. Without knowing what she intends to attempt to table, it is very difficult to know whether they will be in scope. Obviously, the clerks of the House will advise on this. However, I can assure her and the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, who also raised this, that the Government intend to approach Committee in a constructive way. When helpful amendments are tabled that would improve the Bill and not interrupt the implementation of the treaty but enhance it, particularly around engagement with the Chagossian community, we will debate them as we normally do and we can resolve issues, should we need to, on Report. I very much look forward to getting on with that process.

The noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, was probably one of the best-informed participants in our debate last week—she shakes her head very modestly—and I thank her for reminding us of the diversity of opinion there clearly is among Chagossian communities. I expect and hope that this surfaces as part of the committee’s work.

I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, for the constructive way in which he has approached this so far. We are still at the early stages but, having worked with him for some time now, I expect that this is how we will continue. I very much look forward to committee so that we can thrash some of this out, get some answers to questions that noble Lords quite rightly have of the Government, and do our job, as this Chamber so often does, with the rigour, passion and diligence that we always apply. I beg to move.

Motion agreed.