Chagos Islands

Part of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – in the House of Commons at on 2 September 2025.

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Photo of Stephen Doughty Stephen Doughty Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As I have explained many times in the House, those figures are completely misleading. The net present value of payments under the treaty is £3.4 billion. The average cost of the deal in today’s money is £101 million per year. That is just a fraction of our Defence budget, and represents a few hours of spending on our NHS. This Government will not scrimp when it comes to the national security of the United Kingdom and our allies.