After the 1997 Hong Kong deal, Jonathan Powell turned to Tony Blair and said ‘we mustn’t lose any more territory’. He was right. But nearly three decades later, history is repeating itself.
Powell is back advising another Labour Prime Minister, this time on national security, and one of the biggest briefs on his desk is the future of the Chagos islands.
The problem is, Starmer is a lawyer and not a leader. Starmer’s attempts to surrender the Chagos Islands are nothing short of a betrayal of Britain.
He promised to put the British people first, but this is the complete opposite. He’s placing his reputation amongst the gilded international legal elite first and the country’s national interest last.
You’re probably thinking, why doesn’t Starmer just walk away from the negotiation table and reaffirm the Chagos Islands as British territory? You’d be right.
The Chagos Islands have been under British sovereignty since as far back as 1814. The claims by the Mauritian Government that the Chagos Islands belong to them should be brushed aside.
Mauritius had no links to the islands. Almost zero Mauritian people had or have ever lived there. The only people who have are a few thousand Chagossians – a community Starmer has never even met.
It was only in 1982, when a far left party win power in Mauritius, that their Government started to claim the British ‘coerced them out of their land’.
Robert Jenrick released a seven-minute long explainer on the Chagos IslandsROBERT JENRICKBut this claim is complete nonsense. When it started being made, the Mauritian leader who negotiated the agreement— a Mauritian patriot who led the nation to independence — said so.
He said he wasn’t forced to do a deal and that claiming Chagos would make Mauritius look “ridiculous in the eyes of the world.”
Starmer’s negotiating team should quote his words back to the current Mauritian Government.
The reason the Mauritian Government’s claims are being discussed again is because the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave an opinion that the UK should give up the Chagos to Mauritius.
But there’s so many problems with it. Judges appointed by Vladamir Putin and Xi Jinping made the decision. Another judge is currently involved in a claim to make the UK Government pay £18 billion in reparations.
Most importantly, the ICJ’s opinion was non-binding. We never consented to this dispute going before the court. So the ICJ has no jurisdiction over it.
In other words, there is no legal reason — at all — we have to give up Chagos.
We can choose to. But we do not have to.
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It would be nothing short of insanity to willingly give this island up. It’s home to a crucial base that we share with the US in a strategically important part of the world.
So, why is this deal really happening? Who is behind it all?
This deal is happening because three powerful men, who have risen to the very top, hold an extreme interpretation of international law that most people would find ludicrous.
On our side of the negotiating table, you’ve got Keir Starmer. In 2013, Starmer had a 5 star, ‘all expenses paid for’ trip to Mauritius where he gave a lecture and discussed the Chagos Islands.
You’ve also got Lord Hermer, the Government’s top lawyer. You might remember him as Gerry Adams’ lawyer. He’s an old friend of Starmer’s and a donor to him. He’s described ‘controlling our borders’ as ‘dehumanising.’ And ‘almost every element’ of the British Empire as ‘deeply racist.’
On the other side, leading the Mauritian negotiating team, is Philippe Sands. He’s also a close friend of Starmer’s and worked with Hermer as a barrister for many years.
The deep connections between the three men are deeply troubling.
They must be stopped – and fast.
If you agree, let Labour know. It’s not too late to stop the surrender.