Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill Committee: New Clause 1

What happened: The House of Commons voted on New Clause 1 to the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill during its committee stage on 20 October 2025. The clause, which sought to add conditions or oversight mechanisms to the arrangements governing the Diego Garcia military base, was defeated by 322 votes to 172.

Why it matters: The defeat of New Clause 1 means the Diego Garcia Bill will proceed without the additional conditions or parliamentary oversight provisions that the opposition sought to attach. The bill governs the legal framework for the UK's military base arrangements on Diego Garcia, a strategically significant installation in the Indian Ocean used jointly with the United States. By voting down the clause, the government preserved its preferred approach, maintaining executive flexibility over how the base is operated and how any treaty arrangements are implemented, rather than subjecting those arrangements to additional statutory conditions.

The politics: The vote divided almost entirely along government-versus-opposition lines. All Labour and Labour and Co-operative Party members voting did so against the clause, while Conservatives (94), Liberal Democrats (64), Reform UK (7), the Democratic Unionist Party (4) and Traditional Unionist Voice (1) all voted in favour. Notably, the Greens and Plaid Cymru voted with the government against the clause, departing from the broader opposition bloc. The result closely mirrors other divisions on the same bill the same day, suggesting a consistent whipping pattern throughout committee stage, with the government ultimately winning the bill's third reading by 320 votes to 171.