Britain’s new socialist Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has had a bumpy first 100 days in office since his Labour Party swept to power over the scandal-plagued Conservatives.
Despite a pledge to bring integrity back to government, Starmer’s been plagued with allegations of accepting inappropriate gifts, including new suits and Taylor Swift tickets.
True to socialist form, he’s rewarded unions with big pay rises and has taken money from the elderly by scrapping a winter fuel allowance.
One of his most controversial policies, however, concerns a little-known group of islands.
The Chagos Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, is a British Overseas Territory. Starmer abruptly announced this month that he’s handing them back to Mauritius, which has claimed them since 1968. In 1965, before Mauritius gained its independence, the British had taken over the remote but strategically important islands. The U.S. and the U.K. have operated a military base on Diego Garcia, an island in the chain.
Some British media have reported that U.S. President Joe Biden persuaded Starmer to hand over Chagos, on the stipulation that Mauritius honour the 99-year lease on Diego Garcia. Why Starmer would lean on the advice of an octogenarian deemed so cognitively unfit by his own party that he’s unfit for office is anyone’s guess.
Mauritius now falls under the Chinese sphere of influence. Critics of Starmer’s handover point out the Chinese haven’t honoured their pledge to allow Hong Kong to continue as a democracy after Britain left. Why would they honour the Chagos lease? The islands are also environmentally sensitive. There are fears China will send in its factory fishing boats once the U.K. withdraws.
It’s also raised concerns that Spain will demand the surrender of Gibraltar and Argentina could renew its spurious claim to the Falkland Islands.
Starmer’s supporters point to a decision by the International Court of Justice that supported Mauritius’s claim. The ICJ, however, operates under the auspices of the United Nations and is comprised of judges from, among other countries, China, Somalia and Lebanon — hardly bastions of sound judicial process.
Starmer decided without consulting the Chagossians or his parliament.
There’s some voter remorse, as Britons ponder how much more of this socialist paradise they can tolerate or afford.