Foreign Secretary David Lammy was directly challenged by his new American counterpart over Labour’s attempt to surrender the Chagos Islands, it has emerged.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is understood to have pressed Lammy on whether the agreement will undermine US security interests given the strategic American base on one of the islands, the Telegraph reports.
The Trump administration has now been given full details of the UK’s as-yet-unpublished agreement to hand control of the islands to Mauritius – which will allow his top team to pore over every line, with rumours of an American veto still in the balance.
A US readout of Lammy and Rubio’s call said the pair discussed both “China’s malign influence” and the need for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” – though neither statement on the call issued by the US or UK explicitly mentioned Chagos.
But now, multiple sources briefed on the call have confirmed to The Telegraph that it was indeed discussed.
Rubio has form on Chagos. He was publicly critical of Sir Keir Starmer’s handover announcement back in October.
At the time, he warned that Britain giving up the islands could allow “communist China” to spy on the US Navy – and with Mauritius inching ever closer to China and Iran, his boss Donald Trump could still kill off the deal.
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‘The sooner Lammy backs down, the better!’ Braverman vows Labour’s Chagos surrender will NOT proceed
Suella Braverman has told Starmer and Lammy to ‘back down’
PA
David Lammy has been urged to “back down” and his Chagos Islands surrender will not go ahead, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has claimed after speaking to Donald Trump’s team.
Writing on social media, Braverman said: “I am currently in Washington DC and have been speaking people in the Trump administration.
“I cannot see how the Chagos deal will proceed.
“The sooner Starmer and Lammy back down, the better for all concerned.
“Sovereign UK territory should stay sovereign UK territory.”
Business Secretary hails ‘excitement and dynamism’ as Treasury FINALLY starts sounding optimistic
Britons will start to feel better off from Labour’s so-called “Plan For Change” “this year”, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has vowed.
In an optimistic shift in tone from the Treasury, Reynolds told the BBC this morning: “People will fill the difference in their pockets this year.
“Inflation is coming down, wages are rising, and the excitement, dynamism we will generate… [will] unleash the animal spirits in the UK.”
Labour’s Budget could crush Britain’s high streets as retail and hospitality venues risk being squeezed for half a BILLION in business rates
Labour’s Budget could take its toll on Britain’s small businesses and “exacerbate” the decline of the high street, a leading tax firm has warned.
New analysis by consultancy firm Ryan Tax reveals that Rachel Reeves’s attempts to squeeze tech giants for extra cash may actually end up affecting high street retailers – which now risk facing larger tax bills under her reformed business rates system.
Alex Probyn, an analyst at Ryan, said: “The legislation won’t address the current tax imbalance nor level the playing field, but will actually exacerbate it.”
In the Treasury’s business rates proposals, properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or more are set to be subjected to a higher rate of tax – the revenue from which will then be used to fund discounts for smaller properties.
Reeves’s policy will fail to target online stores and will instead leave bricks-and-mortar retailers with higher tax bills, Ryan Tax’s analysis warns.
The firm’s figures show that retail, leisure and hospitality properties risk having to pay an extra £482million in business rates following the changes.
That’s almost double what companies with large distribution warehouses are set to pay: an extra £263million.
‘It’s crunch time!’ Reeves issued make-or-break business warning as Chancellor relaunches Labour’s growth plabs
Rachel Reeves is set to tell businesses how ‘Britain is a country of huge potential’
PA
Rachel Reeves has been warned that it is “crunch time” ahead of her pivotal growth “relaunch” speech later today.
The Chancellor is heading to Oxfordshire today to put her name behind a series of major new infrastructure projects – including a third runway at Heathrow airport, a £100million-valued upgrade to Manchester United’s Old Trafford, and an “Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor” said to boost the UK economy by as much as £78billion by 2035.
She will say: “Low growth is not our destiny, but that economic growth will not come without a fight without a Government that is on the side of working people. Willing to take the right decisions now to change our country’s course for the better.
“Britain is a country of huge potential. A country of strong communities, with local businesses at their heart.
“We are at the forefront of some of the most exciting developments in the world like artificial intelligence and life sciences. We have great companies based here delivering jobs and investment in Britain.”
But CBI chief executive Rain Newton-Smith has warned: “It’s crunch time for growth, and today the Chancellor has heeded business’s call to go further and faster.
“This is most evident in ministers grasping decisions that have sat on the desk of government for too long. This positive leadership and a clear vision to kickstart the economy and boost productivity is welcome.”
While Tory Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride jabbed: “The biggest barriers to growth in this country are Rachel Reeves, Keir Starmer, and their job-destroying Budget.”
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