The Minister of State, Department for International
Development (Lord Bates) (Con): My Lords, I first join
other noble Lords in paying tribute to the noble Lord, Lord
, for securing this debate on
transport and major infrastructure needs of St Helena, Ascension,
Tristan da Cunha and the Falkland Islands. He and several noble
Lords began their remarks—correctly—by expressing their thoughts
and prayers for all the people in the Caribbean, including those
on Anguilla, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and
Caicos Islands who are dealing with the effects of Hurricane
Irma. The noble Lord, Lord Collins, referenced the Statement made
by Sir in another place earlier. There
will be a COBRA meeting starting at 2 pm today; further
announcements will be made following that. The Secretary of
State, , has announced that the Royal
Fleet Auxiliary “Mounts Bay” is already in the Caribbean and
should reach the affected territories today. The ship carries
Royal Marines and Army engineers and her primary task is the
protection of the overseas territories. She is loaded with a
range of equipment, vehicles, tents, stores and hydraulic
vehicles, specifically intended to respond to disasters such as
this. As I say, we are aware that further action will be needed
and it will be forthcoming, as an expression of not only our
humanitarian concern but, of course, our legal obligation to
those territories...
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