Written Question·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·UIN 113021

Chagos Islands: USA

Tabled: 12 February 2026
Answered: 10 March 2026
Named Day

Question

Sir Julian Lewis

ConservativeNew Forest East

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2026 to Question 110708, whether she plans to derogate from Article 298 of UNCLOS.

Answer

Stephen Doughty
The UK already made a declaration pursuant to Article 298 of UNCLOS. This does not however affect our assessment on the risks to the UK-US base on Diego Garcia. I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer cited in his question.