Speeches by Doughty.

“I have been having regular conversations, as have the Foreign Secretary and colleagues across the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office. I was in Poland just last week discussing with our Polish allies our important collaboration. The week before that, I was in Rome with the Weimar+ group. These are all active and…”

“This Government are strengthening ties with our European allies to deliver mutual benefits for our prosperity and security. As the strategic defence review laid out, we need a resilient and competitive European defence industrial base to deliver the capabilities that we need at speed and scale. With that UK-EU security…”

“I could not agree more. This deal is supported by the United States, by our Five Eyes partners and by India. It secures our national security, the security of our allies and the base well into the next century. As I have said many times, if there was not a problem, why did the previous Government start negotiating?”

“I thoroughly reject that statement by the right hon. Gentleman. He knows that I have a lot of respect for him, but I am afraid that he is completely mistaken on this. The fact is that the courts were already making decisions that undermined our position, legally binding provisional measures could have come within weeks…”

“Half of the hon. Gentleman’s question was rhetoric and half of it was completely wrong. He might want to consider correcting the record on a number of points. We do not have to inform Mauritius before undertaking military action from the base; that relates to expedition information after actions, so there is no fetteri…”

“The Diego Garcia military base deal secures the future of the strategically critical US-UK military base. It will protect our national security for generations and ensure we maintain vital capabilities. It is our most significant contribution to the transatlantic defence and security partnership. It has been strengthen…”

“The Georgian people have made clear their Euro-Atlantic aspirations. We absolutely condemn not only those arrests of opposition politicians, but the closing down of civil society space. I have communicated my concerns directly to Georgian Dream in recent weeks, and will be doing so again.”

“It is a shame that the hon. Gentleman’s question takes that tone; I thought we had a very constructive conversation yesterday, and I took on board the points made by him and by the Chair of the Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry). I assure the hon. Gentleman th…”

“The hon. Gentleman makes important points. I had the pleasure of seeing many important water and sanitation projects in my previous career. We are concentrating on maintaining our impact by focusing on partnerships with Governments and multilaterals, and establishing the conditions that can secure additional domestic f…”

“Our work on water, sanitation and hygiene helps deliver development objectives on global health, climate and growth. We support eight countries in Africa and Asia to develop climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services and prevent the spread of diseases, including cholera. We are working through the World B…”

“I have set out the costs very clearly. They average out at £101 million over the course of the deal. That compares very favourably with, for example, what France pays for its military facility in Djibouti. This treaty has been entered into in good faith by the UK and Mauritius, it will be legally binding, and we are ab…”

“Very, Mr Stephenson. You know, Chair, that we have spoken about this before and these issues are very important to me, both in relation to the overseas territories and more generally, as they are to the Foreign Secretary and other colleagues. You will be pleased to know that, at the oceans conference in Nice last week,…”

“Officials are already discussing it, and I will bring in Peter to say a bit more. Essentially, we are trying to meet the 30% target and, globally, the SDGs. We want to be in line with all the relevant international frameworks, including the IUCN.”

“I am very happy to do that.”

“Happily—and we will happily keep you informed as we go through this process.”

“My strong view is that we will have those agreements in place, and the detail of the MPA will be in place by then. I am very happy to come back and talk to you about that further as the details are developed.”

“Those are very good questions, Chair, and we will take them away.”

“I hope that, as we go through the detailed implementation discussions with the Mauritian authorities, we can come back to you with some further detail that will help to reassure you and the Environmental Audit Committee as well.”

“About the practicalities.”

“I certainly do not intend for there to be any lapse. You are asking some very important questions, Chair, and I will certainly take them away and come back to you with further reassurances on them. The wider efforts that we make with a whole range of countries to deal with overfishing and marine conservation are part o…”