Debate on bill and Committee of the Whole House (HL) on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, in the House of Lords, led by Baroness Chapman of Darlington. The answering member was Lord Callanan.

Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill

Lords committee stage first day. Clause 1 under consideration. Lords motion that the House do now resume negatived on show of voices. (Part 2 of 2).

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 850 cc758-804
Session: 2024-26
Department: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Legislative stage: Committee stage
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Related items: Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill 2024-26. Brought from the Commons
Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Bills
House of Lords; Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Lords
Proceeding contributions: Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 cc758-9 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Hannan of Kingsclere
5: Clause 1, page 1, line 7, leave out subsection ...; Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 cc759-760 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I beg leave to move the amendment standing in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Morrow.<...; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c760 (Link to this contribution)
The noble Lord referred to £40 million. I assume he is referring to the trust fund that is going ...; Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 c760 (Link to this contribution)
Yes.; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c760 (Link to this contribution)
However, as he is fully aware, that is totally in the hands of the Mauritian Government. No Chago...; Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 c760 (Link to this contribution)
I am very grateful to the noble Baroness for that important correction. This would not be the fir...; Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 850 cc760-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will refer to Amendment 24 in my name. I thank the Minister for her gracious remarks ...; Baroness Hoey | 850 cc761-4 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support the amendments in this group, and I want to speak to my Amendment 23. Before ...; Lord Weir of Ballyholme | 850 cc762-5 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, not least because my Amendment 59...; Lord Altrincham | 850 cc765-7 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister for her patience in hosting this Committee. I will comment on my Amendment 5...; Lord Craig of Radley | 850 cc767-8 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 53 in my name and that of the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Ho...; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c768 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I rise very briefly to commend the noble and gallant Lord on his amendment. It is an in...; Lord Callanan | 850 cc768-770 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I was going to say that this has been an excellent debate, but it has not really been m...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 cc769-772 (Link to this contribution)
I am not sure that diplomacy is quite the thing for the noble Lord to aspire to. We will move to ...; Lord Craig of Radley | 850 c771 (Link to this contribution)
I was stressing the point that the agreement is about the Chagos Archipelago, but we are interest...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c771 (Link to this contribution)
We do not expect to be confronted with this situation in the case of Diego Garcia. I am sure ther...; Lord Craig of Radley | 850 c771 (Link to this contribution)
My concern is that we would have to continue to pay under the present agreement, even though ther...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c771 (Link to this contribution)
I understand fully the nature of the noble and gallant Lord’s concern. He has explained it well a...; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c771 (Link to this contribution)
Before the noble Baroness leaves that point, I fully respect the noble and gallant Lord’s positio...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 cc771-3 (Link to this contribution)
I simply cannot answer that because it would depend so much on the circumstances and on who would...; Lord Callanan | 850 c773 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister tell us how much? There is a difference between the money that is spent from he...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c773 (Link to this contribution)
It is not capped, actually. Not all ODA money is spent by the FCDO. The MoD spends ODA as well. N...; Lord Callanan | 850 c773 (Link to this contribution)
I was not asking for an explanation of how the different split works between Foreign Office money...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c773 (Link to this contribution)
But the noble Lord did ask me about ODA.; Lord Callanan | 850 c773 (Link to this contribution)
That was part of the question: how much is coming out of the ODA budget?; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c773 (Link to this contribution)
It is not coming out of the ODA budget—that is my point—but that does not mean it is not coming o...; Lord Callanan | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
Why does the Minister not just tell us how much?; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
I do not know how much will be from the FCDO and how much will be from the MoD. It is not ODA, wh...; Lord Callanan | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
That is an interesting clarification that I have not heard before. Is she telling us, then, that ...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
You cannot pay for a military base out of your development budget.; Lord Callanan | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords—; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
I have not given way; I have had enough of this. The noble Lord should probably write to me and e...; Baroness Hoey | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister wants this in writing, but unless I am particularly stupid, I thought it was a very ...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
The question was: how much is going to be from the ODA budget? I have answered that, and I do not...; Lord Weir of Ballyholme | 850 c774 (Link to this contribution)
I know the Minister was not attracted by the charms of the Front Bench, so I will try slightly di...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 cc774-5 (Link to this contribution)
Okay, I will see whether we can get that. I do not know that that will be consistent over time, a...; Baroness Hoey | 850 c775 (Link to this contribution)
I asked the Minister a specific question about whether His Majesty’s Government knew about India ...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c775 (Link to this contribution)
Of course we knew. My understanding is that this pre-dated negotiations and refers to something o...; Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 c775 (Link to this contribution)
With the Committee’s permission, I beg leave to withdraw.; Lord Callanan | 850 c775 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Callanan
6: Clause 1, page 1, line 7, leave out from “Treaty” to end of...; Lord Callanan | 850 cc775-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Amendment 6 is linked to Amendment 79 in this group. Amendment 6 would link the Bill’s ...; Lord Beith | 850 c777 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, if this amendment is agreed to, I will be unable to call Amendment 7 by reason of pre-e...; Baroness Goldie | 850 cc777-8 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 89 in my name and in support of the amendments in the name of...; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c778 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak briefly in relation to Amendment 77 from the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, on...; Lord Lilley | 850 cc778-780 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I would like to address Amendments 11 and 12 in my name, which both relate to the terms...; Lord Callanan | 850 c780 (Link to this contribution)
To give him some more money.; Lord Lilley | 850 c780 (Link to this contribution)
Probably to get some more money. Indeed, we should have dealt with that in the previous session o...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 cc780-2 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am not sure if the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, wants a serious response to that last com...; Lord Callanan | 850 c782 (Link to this contribution)
I thank noble Lords for their contributions. As usual, my noble friend Lord Lilley made an excell...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c782 (Link to this contribution)
I would never deliberately not answer a question from the noble Lord. I have set out what has bee...; Lord Callanan | 850 c782 (Link to this contribution)
I am not being niggly; I am just repeating the questions that I asked. Who will be the members of...; Lord Lilley | 850 c783 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Lilley
10: Clause 1, page 1, line 7, at end insert “, subject to subsec...; Lord Lilley | 850 cc783-4 (Link to this contribution)
My Amendment 10 deals with the issue of resettlement. This is a very sensitive issue, one that Ch...; Lord Weir of Ballyholme | 850 cc784-5 (Link to this contribution)
I will speak briefly in support of the amendments tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Lilley and Lord...; Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 c785 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I just want to add my voice to those of my noble friend Lord Lilley and the noble Lord,...; Lord Weir of Ballyholme | 850 c785 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, for his remarks. Picking up a point made by the noble Lord, ...; Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 c786 (Link to this contribution)
The noble Lord makes an extremely good point. If you see this purely in fiscal terms, depending o...; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 cc786-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I think Article 6, “Resettlement of Chagossians”, is the most misnamed article in this ...; Lord Callanan | 850 c787 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my noble friend Lord Lilley for leading on this group. The Chagossian community overwhelm...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c788 (Link to this contribution)
I agree with the noble Lord that transparency and frankness with the Chagossian community is vita...; Lord Hannan of Kingsclere | 850 c788 (Link to this contribution)
Forgive me, but I am not sure that is quite true. I do not think the Americans wanted the entire ...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c788 (Link to this contribution)
But that is what happened, and it cannot be undone. We are in a situation where there is clearly ...; Baroness Hoey | 850 c789 (Link to this contribution)
Our Governments over the past 30 or 40 years refused to allow the Chagossians to go back. Why doe...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c789 (Link to this contribution)
It is for the Mauritian Government to make that decision. I understand the noble Baroness’s scept...; Lord Lilley | 850 c789 (Link to this contribution)
I withdraw my amendment.; Lord Leong | 850 c789 (Link to this contribution)
Before the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, stands up, I want to make a statement. Noble Lords will be ...; Lord Callanan | 850 cc789-790 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Callanan
14: Clause 1, page 1, line 7, at end insert “, but sections 2 ...; Lord Callanan | 850 c790 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the noble Lord for his statement, but the Chief Whip’s Office was informed last night of ...; Lord Leong | 850 c790 (Link to this contribution)
I just want to clarify that I have a note here saying that the Chief Whip decided this afternoon....; Lord Callanan | 850 cc790-1 (Link to this contribution)
Thank you. I think the noble Lord has just confirmed that the Chief Whip decided this afternoon, ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 850 c791 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. He absolutely put his amendment down. At first, I...; Lord Callanan | 850 cc791-2 (Link to this contribution)
It is not my fault if the Liberal Democrats do not want to be consistent on this.
The point...; Lord Lilley | 850 c792 (Link to this contribution)
I support my noble friend Lord Callanan’s amendment. My own amendment also calls for a referendum...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 850 c792 (Link to this contribution)
Will the noble Lord give way?; Lord Lilley | 850 cc792-3 (Link to this contribution)
I will speak to the noble Lord’s amendment first, because I am informing the House about it, and ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 850 c793 (Link to this contribution)
I first apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, for intervening when he was moving his amendm...; Lord Lilley | 850 c793 (Link to this contribution)
I am afraid I cannot tell the noble Lord that. I read the debate and it was not clear that there ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 850 c793 (Link to this contribution)
I do not think that is quite acceptable. Amendment 9 was voted on, and it included everything tha...; Lord Lilley | 850 cc793-4 (Link to this contribution)
I do not know. I am not an official representative of the Conservative Party. I am flattered that...; Baroness Hoey | 850 c794 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we are almost having another debate on the referendum, which I spoke to on the original...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 cc794-5 (Link to this contribution)
I thank noble Lords for their comments on this. I feel that we have discussed the issue of a refe...; Lord Callanan | 850 c795 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister will not be surprised that I am not convinced by her arguments. I am sure this is so...; Lord Callanan | 850 c795 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is now 10.48 pm. There are not many Members remaining in the Chamber. The next group...; Lord Leong | 850 c795 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we are very happy to continue. As I said earlier, the degrouping was done very late. I ...; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c795 (Link to this contribution)
I note that, in the supplementary Marshalled List of amendments, the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, ha...; Baroness Hoey | 850 c795 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, following on from that, these amendments coming up are on really important environmenta...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, degrouping after groups have been published goes against what is clearly in the Compani...; Baroness Hoey | 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I actually move that this House do now resume.; Viscount Stansgate | 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
The noble Baroness has moved that the House do now resume. I will take advice as to whether it is...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
I wish to oppose the noble Baroness in the suggestion, because I think we have made some good pro...; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
I imagine that the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, would want his two amendments grouped with the other...; Viscount Stansgate | 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the Question has been put that the House do now resume. I must now put that Question. I...; Baroness Hoey | 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, would it be helpful if I move that the House do now adjourn?; 850 c796 (Link to this contribution)
No!; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee | 850 c797 (Link to this contribution)
Obviously, we are not going to have a vote now, but it would be helpful for those of us who are n...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 850 c797 (Link to this contribution)
Perhaps I might say to the noble Baroness that communication with regard to the degrouping was no...; Lord Callanan | 850 c797 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Callanan
15: Clause 1, page 1, line 7, at end insert “, but sections 2 ...; Lord Callanan | 850 c797 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, in moving my Amendment 15 I will speak also to Amendments 16, 66 and 73, which are also...; Baroness Hoey | 850 cc798-800 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 60, 65 and 68 on the protection and preservation of native a...; Lord Lilley | 850 cc800-1 (Link to this contribution)
I had not intended to speak on these amendments because there are other far more qualified people...; Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 850 cc801-2 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am happy to respond. As I understand it, details about the Mauritian marine protected...; Lord Callanan | 850 cc802-4 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her answers, but I think the debate reflects the complexity of...
Subjects: Costs British Indian Ocean Territory Environment protection Payments Referendums Mauritius Military bases Diego Garcia Sovereignty Treaties Security USA Resettlement Chagossians Marine protected areas Self-determination of states Chagos Islands
Legislation: Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill 2024-26
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on hansard.parliament.uk

Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill

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