Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said the UK’s Chagos Islands deal is important for national security, although said she had not been told why.

Speaking to Times Radio, Ms Davies-Jones said she had not been told about much of the activity on the Diego Garcia base, but praised the deal’s significance for the security of the UK and allies.

Ms Davies-Jones said the Bill would be brought back to Parliament “as soon as parliamentary time allows”.

She also said conversations would continue with the US after Donald Trump changed his position on the deal again and said it was a “big mistake”.

Ms Davies-Jones said: “I totally understand how people will be wondering exactly the details of this. There is a lot that happens on that base that not even I know, that a lot of our Government ministers don’t know, and that is vitally important for national security as well. It protects us from terrorism, it is crucial, vital infrastructure for national security, not just here in the UK, but for our allies as well, for our Americans who use that base, and it is important.”

She added: “There’s a lot of things, as I’ve stated, that happen on that base that not even I am privy to. I am entrusted by those who are in operation of that base, our military, our national security agencies who operate that base about how crucial that infrastructure is and our partners across the world as well.”