The hon. Gentleman is correct that a full democracy-I look forward to this country's becoming one-would allow Parliament the right to challenge decisions made by Ministers. In this case, the Foreign Secretary asked the Queen to authorise the Orders in Council, bypassing Parliament. That cannot be right under any circumstances.

Having sat through many of the High Court cases, I found it poignant to see the Foreign Secretary's barrister defending with great authority and gusto what I believe to be an unjustifiable, immoral position while a court full of Chagos islanders-now living in Mauritius or the Seychelles, or having made their homes in this country, mainly in Crawley-looked on as that expensive procedure went ahead. Why can we not recognise that a fundamentally immoral injustice has been done?