Why?
There are good reasons why we need to keep the Chagos.
1. We are bound by a US/Uk Treaty to keep the freehold of our crucial Indian Ocean joint base.
2. Giving it to Mauritius could mean Chinese fishing boats getting licences to plunder the seas near the base.
3. It could mean occupation of adjacent islands to Diego Garcia limiting use of base
4. Mauritius has signed an anti nuclear Treaty but Diego Garcia is a nuclear handling base.
5. It could lead to commercial exploitation of the seas and islands, damaging a well protected marine environment.
6 Uk taxpayers will be ripped off actually having to make large payments as well as giving the valuable freehold away for nothing.
Legal issues
1. The UK cannot be bound by an advisory opinion of the ICJ which has led to this policy.
2. Any way the UK has an opt out for Commonwealth and defence matters from any ICJ verdict.
3 The UK is bound by the US Treaty to keep the freehold of the islands.
Likely outcome
The US is being alerted to the dangers if this deal. The UK authorities now know they have to modify the US Treaty first. The US President has not yet formally endorsed the disastrous UK deal.
February 10, 2026
Indeed let us hope this disastrous, indefensible and vastly expensive deal can still be killed dead – but it is looking increasingly unlikely.
February 10, 2026
One has to wonder why so much political capital is being wasted on this disastrous policy. There is more to this than we are being told.
We know ow the Atorney general, Chief of Staff and key Foreign Adviser to the government have history when it comes to antagonising Britain but this is in another level.
I smell a whiff of corruption and some serious playoffs being promised.
We have just lost the master of dark arts due to the Epstien papers. Will this grubby deal have similar connotations.
February 10, 2026
Agreed. Unfortunately all of these facts have been clear from the outset. I fear logic, common sense and national interest count for naught with this Government.
If I lived in Gibraltar or The Falklands I’d be alarmed at this precedent.
February 10, 2026
+1
February 10, 2026
LL,
Agreed. Though maybe Starmer now has preservation of his own job as his biggest concern.
Reason 6 is particularly irritating.
February 10, 2026
Indeed.
As to 6.
Perhaps some Brits can go and live in Mauritius tax free it seems with their taxes paid for by UK tax payers. Then of course Mauritius might get another huge pay off when they sell or lease off bits of the archipeligo or fishing/defence rights etc. to China or others!
February 10, 2026
…and the Chagos Islanders?
February 10, 2026
Transferring the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and paying them for the privilege was not in the Labour Party Manifesto.
The House of Lords could stop it and it should. So could Trump, and HE should if the Lords refuse/fail to do their duty.
The House of Lords could and should also demand complete transparency from Two-Tier and the Foreign Office over the process which has taken place during the “negotiations” – why the Foreign Office has pushed it so desperately after Cameron vetoed it, and focusing on the roles played by Philip Sands, Jonathan Powell ….. and Mandelson.
It stinks.
February 10, 2026
Good morning.
I have not read the Labour Party manifesto but, I would be pretty surprised if it contain a promise to give the Chagos Islands to a foreign country and pay them to do so.
Further from my comment yesterday and the worth of manifesto promises, is it now time to make these legal documents ? ie Social Contracts. Is it also time that, should a government wish to implement a policy that is either contrary to their manifesto or not in their manifesto that a legally binding referendum should be held before it becomes law.
Our system of democracy works well when everyone plays by both the written and unwritten rules. But when they act in a manner that clearly is in the Public Interest and, in this case of national security, not to mention cost, I think it is high time ‘we the little’ people had a say.
Parliaments and governments, of all colours, can no longer be trusted.
Reply The Labour Manifesto promised to protect the sovereignty of our Crown dependencies!
February 10, 2026
A combination of Starmer, Lammy, and FO adherence to ICJ partial edicts will at best lead to a dimunation of the relationship with our closest ally. I contend that so called globalism is a false god being used to divide the western alliance. Labour, not only a financial disaster, has become a catastrophy we can no longer indulge.
I find it ironic that Labour, constipated on human rights and DEI can be so flipant and disregarding of the human rights of the refugee Chargosians. Frankly Labour disgust me. The sooner they depart and cease inflicting us with their insanities the better.