Part of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – in the House of Commons at on 2 September 2025.
Stephen Doughty
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I thank my right hon. Friend for her interest in this important issue, which she and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee have raised with me previously. The Government have secured a deal that will help to protect the unique environment of the Chagos archipelago, supported by an enhanced partnership between the UK and Mauritius, under which we will support Mauritius’s ambition to establish a marine protected area to protect the globally significant ecosystems to which she refers. The agreement of the terms of the technical support and assistance is a priority within the ongoing implementation process with Mauritius. I have listened very carefully to what she says and she can be assured that I have already been asking questions about many of those issues.