Grant Shapps has told the Welwyn Hatfield Times that Britain was "obviously wrong" to evict the native inhabitants of the Chagos Islands in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
But the defence secretary and MP for Welwyn Hatfield said in part two of our interview that "for a variety of reasons", it is "probably not" possible to repopulate the islands.
He continued: "Many live here [in the UK] now, of course, and probably wouldn't want to go back either. Compensation has been paid, and that is the right way to have done that."
The Chagos Islands, an archipelago of 58 islands in the Indian Ocean, are owned by Britain, who agreed a deal with the USA in 1966 to build a military base on one of the islands.
As part of the deal, the 2,000 inhabitants of the islands were removed and have been unable to return. The International Court of Justice has ruled in a non-binding judgment that Britain's ownership of the islands should end "as rapidly as possible".
The UK paid around £4.65m in compensation to the islanders during the 1970s and 1980s, and is currently distributing a further £40m in compensation.
In 2015-16, a government consultation found that 98 per cent of Chagossian respondents supported resettlement.
Mr Shapps' comments came during a wide-ranging discussion on defence issues that took place shortly before the Daily Telegraph reported that he has told officials that the Chagos Islands should remain under British control.
Falkland Islands
Moving onto another group of islands under British control, we asked Mr Shapps whether he was worried by comments made by the new Argentine president, Javier Milei, that he will "get back" the Falkland Islands.
Mr Shapps said: "It's true to say that Argentina literally have in their constitution their wrongful claim to sovereignty, so he's repeating what's in there.
"I hope he'll settle down and be practical, and acknowledge that the people who live on the Falkland Islands are British, and have voted on it.
"There is no question whatsoever when it comes to the sovereignty."
Mr Shapps added that he has "checked the stance of our force profile" to "satisfy" himself that it is right: "We will do whatever it takes to defend the Falkland Islands.
"But I don't think his comments are out of step with their constitution and I think - I hope - that he will be westward-leaning, sensible, and work with us and for better relations between us and Argentina."
Women in the armed forces
We also spoke about the issues faced by women in the military, which has been in the spotlight this year after the death of 19-year-old Jaysley Beck. An army investigation found that she took her own life after suffering "intense" sexual harassment from a superior.
And in 2021, the defence subcommittee found that around two thirds of women in the armed forces have experienced bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination, with more than one in ten reporting that they had experienced sexual harassment within the last year.
There was also widespread concern among service members that reporting bullying, harassment or discrimination might adversely affect their career.
We asked Mr Shapps whether he thinks the system for reporting sexual harassment and sexual assault in the armed forces is broken, and whether he is looking at doing anything to improve the system for servicewomen.
He responded: "It’s not good enough, we live in the 21st century, we should absolutely have a society where equality of the sexes should be yesterday’s question.
"I think those things are appalling.
"There is some progress being made, it’s from a low base, but the numbers are ticking up … [though] not fast enough, as far as I’m concerned.
"And it’s a both cultural [issue] as well as [an issue with the] systems of complaint.
"A lot has been done, and lot has been written on this now. There are several different reports which are now being implemented, and I have told the MoD I expect that the military side of things progresses with this as quickly as possible, with real haste.
"Obviously, the military was very male-dominated ... and that has changed, and it is time for the military to update with society.
"We live in the twenty first century, there's no space for that.
"Any society that doesn't realise that it needs to use all of its systems, fails.
"In this job, I spend quite a lot of time in Saudi Arabia, for example, and they have discovered that, actually, having women in the workforce improves your economy - why would you exclude half your people? And that society is massively changing as a result.
"We need to make sure that people feel [the military] is somewhere they are welcome."
He added that "by and large", the women he meets in the armed forces "are saying it's a brilliant place, don't let those stereotypes put people off ... that is where we need to be".
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