Member

We are not setting a good example; we are doing the opposite. We are setting the precedent that a country that lobbies, hires a couple of good lawyers and gets together a coalition can, by majority vote, overrule the basic principle of countries being allowed to determine their own affairs, to live under their own laws and their own people, according to their own choice. We have recognised the existence of the Chagossian population as a unit; we did so when we consulted them about the marine conservation area. It is not a new idea that this is a distinct nationality with a distinct identity. We did it when we amended the British Nationality Act 1981, yet we are now overriding that principle to transfer sovereignty to a state that has never exercised it and that, frankly, never showed much interest in exercising it until some 15 years ago, as it began to get closer to China.