Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Brett, will realise from the interventions made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, and the noble Lords, Lord Ramsbotham and Lord Bridges, that the interest in the Chagos Islands in your Lordships' House, as in another place, is widespread and continuing. Although we will have to leave the subject here today, this is not the end of it, nor is it the end of the court proceedings. Although the Chagos islanders have taken it as far as they can in our courts, they still have a right of appeal to the European Court, which I understand they will exercise, although that may be several years down the line. I wish to separate the issue of citizenship from that of the return to the islands. I am reinforced in this opinion by the fact that when the islanders went to the Foreign Office—where they did not see Gillian Merron, but saw her officials—they had a useful discussion, which I believe will continue. However, they deliberately kept off the subject about which we are talking today because no one among the Chagos islanders wishes it to be thought that they would be satisfied, had the Minister agreed to this amendment today, to forgo the demand to return. I am a little anxious about what he has said about including the citizenship question in the ongoing discussions with the Foreign Office. While I am happy that the Government are prepared to continue the discussion on citizenship, it probably is not the appropriate forum when they are talking to the Foreign Office about the right of return. As I say, we will not get any further with this. For the time being, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 45 withdrawn. Amendment 46 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.