Lammy urges Reform's newest MP to ‘get some help' over ‘conspiracy theories'
David Lammy has urged a Reform UK MP to 'get some help' because she is 'swallowing conspiracy theories'.
Sarah Pochin had asked the Foreign Secretary whether the US felt unable to use the UK-US airbase on Diego Garcia, following the Government's deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands.
Responding during a statement on the Middle East, Mr Lammy said the MP for Runcorn and Helsby should 'get off social media'.
The UK-operated base in the Chagos Islands was not used in the US strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty has said.
He added that the US did not ask to use it, as he answered questions from the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Pochin said: 'Is he (Mr Lammy) able to explain to the House whether the United States felt unable to use the Diego Garcia base and have to refuel, in a highly dangerous operation three times because of that, because of your deal that you did with the with the Mauritians, that would then tell the Chinese, that would then tell the Iranians?'
Mr Lammy replied: 'The honourable lady has got (to) get off social media, has got to get some help… because she is swallowing conspiracy theories that should not be repeated in this House.'
The deal over the Chagos Islands follows a 2019 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice which says the islands should be handed over to Mauritius.
As well as establishing a £40 million fund for Chagossians, the UK has agreed to pay Mauritius at least £120 million a year for 99 years in order to lease back the Diego Garcia base – a total cost of at least £13 billion in cash terms.
During the statement on Monday, Mr Lammy was pressed by MPs on the UK's position following the US military action.
Conservative MP Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) said: 'Does His Majesty's Government support or oppose US military action against Iran at the weekend?'
Mr Lammy replied: 'His Majesty's Government will continue to work with our closest ally, as I was last week in Washington DC.'
Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) said: 'What is UK Government policy on whether regime change should be pursued in Iran?'
Mr Lammy replied: 'It is not our belief that it's for us to change the regime of any country, that it must be for the people themselves.'
SNP MP Brendan O'Hara (Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber) said: 'We've been here for an hour, and still the Foreign Secretary appears incapable of saying whether he supports or condemns America's actions, or whether he regards them as being legal or not.
'And nowhere in this statement does the role of international law even merit a mention. So will the Foreign Secretary take this opportunity now to tell us whether he believes that America's unilateral action was compliant with international law?'
Mr Lammy replied: 'I've got to tell (Mr O'Hara), I qualified and was called to the bar in 1995, I haven't practised for the last 25 years.
'It is not for me to comment on the United States' legal validity. I would refer him to article 51 and article two of the UN Charter, and he can seek his own advice.'
In a later statement on UK military base protection, Liberal Democrat MP Cameron Thomas (Tewkesbury) accused Reform UK MP Richard Tice of demonstrating 'ignorance of RAF force protection by tweeting that Group Captain Louise Henton's background in human resources led to last week's infiltration of RAF Brize Norton'.
Over the weekend, Mr Tice, MP for Boston and Skegness, had posted on X: 'RAF BRIZE NORTON. Kept safe and secure by an HR manager. Well done folks.'
Labour's Louise Jones had also hit out at 'certain pathetic little people' for criticising women for doing their jobs.
The MP for North East Derbyshire said: 'I would like to address one issue that reared its head over the weekend as one of the only female veterans in this Parliament.
'Unfortunately, certain pathetic little people took this incident and decided to come out of the woodwork and criticise people for doing their job whilst being female.
'I know, as a woman serving in the armed forces, every opportunity that has been given to women, we have earned through serving on operations and proving time and time again, we are worthy to be there.
'I was very conscious when I was serving that I had to be perfect, because any fault or flaw that I showed would not be held just against me, but against all the women that I was serving with. Could the minister stand up and say now to every woman serving in the armed forces that we respect and recognise their service?'
Mr Pollard replied: 'It is outrageous the comments … that were made at the weekend about our serving military. I notice there is not a single Reform MP here for this statement.
'Let me be absolutely clear, I believe on a cross-party basis that all parties present in the chamber today back our forces. We don't take to Twitter to mock them. We respect service on a cross-party basis. We do not belittle senior officers based on their gender or experience.
'We need to be better than this, just as we ask our armed forces to address cultural concerns, we need to be alive for that in our politics as well – calling out misogyny wherever it rears its ugly head.'
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