Member

I believe that for a number of reasons. One is that we would make ourselves an international laughing stock. Having spent all these years negotiating this treaty—and having secured the strong support of the United States Administration, as well as that of our friends in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India, for this treaty—it would be very peculiar if we decided that, on second thought, we wanted not to ratify this treaty but to restart negotiation with Mauritius. I do not know how our American friends would react. They can, as recent history shows, be impulsive. It is conceivable that they might think that the best way of securing the use of the base in Diego Garcia would be to switch sides and to decide that a deal between the United States and Mauritius would be better for the long-term security of the United States than the deal that the British have negotiated with Mauritius. That is possible; it is not a risk I would wish to run. We would make ourselves look very strange if we refused to ratify the treaty.