Speeches by Pollard.

“What I would say in response to that is that we continue to have conversations with the partner nations—the original eight—in relation to this. Our assessment remains that there is not the possibility of consensus there. So I understand where you are coming from, but it is not our assessment that that is possible. It i…”

“I am happy coming back to you on that, but just to reinforce the point, the ability of the RAF aircraft or contracted aircraft to operate is entirely reliant on the permissions given by nations in the area. If the tasking of those aircraft were to go beyond hostage rescue, that would potentially change the calculations…”

“It is worth understanding how the Joint Strike Fighter—originally the F-35—programme works on a global basis. Of the eight original partner nations, of which the UK is one and the US another, agreements on how the F-35 global support system operates have to be taken by consensus, which means that all nations in that or…”

“I am not aware of that, but I would need to check the wider conversations.”

“If the Foreign Office wanted to know about hostage-rescue data, a conversation would perhaps take place, but as the aircraft is solely focused on hostage rescue and using the capabilities for hostage rescue, that may not necessarily be of interest to other Government Departments—unless it is around hostage rescue, whic…”

“No, we are absolutely looking for the hostages. That is the sole purpose of those flights. That is the mission that they have been tasked with—to try to locate those hostages who continue to be held in Hamas captivity. That is their job and sole purpose. All the capabilities that the aircraft may possess are tasked wit…”

“It is difficult to go further in answering the question due to the fact that we do not routinely comment on intelligence matters. If there were additional taskings placed on those aircraft—beyond just hostage rescue—I think the ability of those aircraft to deliver those activities would be more constrained. As a result…”

“It would not normally be a thing that we would look at in relation to this specifically because the tasking and our entire mission out of RAF Akrotiri is solely for hostage search and rescue. If there were to be alternative taskings based on a wider aspect, that would require a very different approach and may affect th…”

“The question is whether the data would be held in such a format that it would be able to identify that, because effectively—without going into too much detail—instead of looking at the landscape and geographies, it is trying to detect information that would pinpoint the location of individual hostages. In that respect,…”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be read a Second time. On 22 May, the Prime Minister signed a landmark treaty with the Republic of Mauritius that guarantees the continued UK operational control of Diego Garcia for the next 99 years and beyond.”

“So soon!”

“I do not think the right hon. Gentleman wants to show me his draft deal, and there is a very good reason for that: this deal, this treaty and this Bill improve on that deal.”

“I will come back to the former Deputy Prime Minister and then I will make some progress.”

“I said I would take one intervention from each side of the House. I have done that, so I will make some progress, but I am certain that Members will get another chance in a moment. This treaty is indispensable to keeping Britain secure at home and strong abroad. It is an expression of our unbreakable defence and intell…”

“To borrow a phrase, if the right hon. Member shows me his, I will show him mine. The whole point is that our deal is published. If he would like to go into the files and dig out his deal and publish it, we would be able to see where this deal has enhanced those protections, secured the operation of the base and got a b…”

“I am going to make a wee bit more progress, but I always like giving way to a Luke, and I will do so in a bit—do not worry—but not quite yet. I pay tribute to all Members of the House who have taken the time to scrutinise the treaty in detail. Allow me to set out why it is so vital. The importance of the base cannot be…”

“I am going to make some progress, but I will be happy to give way in a moment. Before I start getting into the detail, I want to recognise up front the Chagossians affected by decisions taken by Britain many years ago. We recognise in the preamble to the universal deep regret over what happened. It is acknowledged on t…”

“To be fair, I will give way to one Opposition Member, and then I will make some progress. I give way to the former Deputy Prime Minister.”

“It was a timely intervention. I am happy to confirm that this precise deal delivers on the objective as originally set out when the Conservatives were in government. It secures the continued operation of the UK-US military base.”

“I have a lot of time for the right hon. Gentleman. The provisions of those judgments affect the operations of the base—that is what is important here. It is also about the extension of the judgments, because other powers could be used on the basis of those judgments. That is the reason that the Conservatives started th…”