A movement to save the Chagos Islands for Sir Keir Starmer’s “surrender” deal is gathering pace – with activists now pushing harder than ever to stop Labour from subjecting the British territory to the same fate at communist-controlled Hong Kong.
During this time the Prime Minister has stumbled over the sticky issue of handing over the Chagos and has struggled to live up to his Labour predecessor.
In 1997, fresh off a similarly jubilant landslide victory, Tony Blair seemed to share Starmer’s taste for handing over territory to Beijing at the cost of the British taxpayer.
The former Prime Minister was able to get the job done within a year of moving into No10 – closing the deal that would hand over Hong Kong to the Chinese until 2047.
Blair was able to get the job done within a year of moving into No10 – closing the deal that would hand over Hong Kong to the Chinese until 2047
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Now, to the average British voter, the issue of the Chagos could be swept under the rug as a far off land with little to no domestic repercussions.
After all, polling from YouGov indicated that 50 per cent of Britons do not know whether they support or oppose Labour’s plans to hand over the islands.
Yet, Labour’s capitulation of the archipelago harks back to “painful memories of 1997”, one former Home Secretary has told GB News, refreshing Blair’s “Hong Kong betrayal” at home and abroad as Starmer bows to Beijing.
Speaking to the People’s Channel, Suella Braverman said: “The Chagos capitulation is a modern Chinese takeaway that brings back painful memories of Blair’s Hong Kong betrayal.
“Yet Labour seem incessant on kowtowing to communist China.
“Have we learnt nothing from our mistakes in 1997? The Chinese Communist Party can’t be trusted and aren’t our friends despite how much Labour might want to wish otherwise.”
With Rachel Reeves and David Lammy in tow, Starmer has led the British Government to become showered with even more scorn as the Labour Chancellor declared that the UK must focus on closer ties with Beijing for reasons of “growth”.
“China is one of the greatest threats we face. Before we know it, our Diego Garcia base will be compromised and overrun with Chinese spy equipment,” Braverman warned.
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Fifty per cent of Britons do not know whether they support or oppose Labour’s plans to hand over the archipelago
YouGov
Suella Braverman has condemned Keir Starmer’s handling of the Chagos deal, warning Labour of jeopardising national security
PA
With Mauritius as an ally of Beijing, a fleet of disgruntled Conservatives have expressed their discontent at the possibility of China’s shadow to loom further over the Indian Ocean Territory.
The Fareham MP told GB News: “There is nothing more important than national security, but Keir Starmer and David Lammy seem naively determined to carry out their narcissistic foreign policy virtue signalling, without a second thought for the British people.”
As it stands, the PM’s agreement involves a 99-year plan to lease back the strategically significant US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, with an option to extend it for another 40 years for almost £9billion.
It has appeared to be given the Trump seal of approval, but the wider response from Washington and Westminster circles – uncovers unease and uncertainty.
As a result, questions have been raised on why Starmer and his crew of ministers appear so determined to ditch the islands when the Government has received so much criticism for it.
One Tory insider told GB News: “It’s baffling to make out why Starmer is so hell-bent on handing over the Chagos when the British are already struggling on his doorstep.
“With furious farmers, freezing pensioners and tax rises on good, honest working people, it seems far from fair. With this decision, Keir’s cutting off his nose to spite his face but he would be a fool to let party politics compromise Britain’s national security.”
As it stands, the current deal will cost generations of Britons for around 140 years.
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After World War Two, the UK relinquished control over a number of its overseas territories as the Empire entered a period of gradual decline and dismantlement.
Like every Government decision, the dissipation of the Empire was blamed on an eclectic mix of factors – one of which was a financial and economic strain on the public purse which was unmanageable for the post-war Labour Government.
While the deterioration of dominions abroad was for the economic good of the nation back then, politicians have been left dumbfounded at Starmer so keenly signing up to shelling out billions on decades of tenancy on the island.
Now, the Labour leader has been handed another hurdle to wrapping up the deal thanks to the High Court’s legal challenge to stop the agreement in its tracks – with top Tory peers leading the charge.
On Monday, a group of Conservative campaigners issued a pre-action legal letter against the Foreign Office to kickstart a judicial review of the deal, which could culminate in the decision being thrown out altogether.
Spearheading the campaign is former special adviser to Boris Johnson Lord Kempsell, former Cabinet minister Lord Lilley, and historian Lord Roberts of Belgravia.
Together, they have declared that the Government is acting unlawfully in its attempt to hand over British territory to foreign power when ministers lack the prerogative to do so.
Lord Kempsell said: “The loss of British sovereign territory and the complete erasure of the Chagossians from the debate requires action, not words.
Former prime minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth met with Keir Starmer
Prime Minister’s Office, Downing Street
“That is why I am launching this judicial review working jointly with many others who are outraged by this scandal.”
Echoing Braverman’s blistering criticism of the agreement, academic Calum Drysdale simply dubbed the deal a “betrayal” of Britons and the Chagossians alike.
The sovereignty of Parliament cannot be undermined by ceding its own territory without consent, the letter explains – a key driver similar to that behind Britain’s departure from the European Union.
However, one of the shared challenges that Blair and Starmer have faced is the enraged outcry of the natives.
After Britain displaced those who resided on Diego Garcia to make way for their US-UK military base, the UN’s International Court of Justice later declared British administration of Diego Garcia was unlawful and recommended its end.
Subsequently, the joint announcement by British and Mauritius Governments said a new treaty will “address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians”.
Although the argument provided by Labour is that they are correcting a historic wrong, the current deal fails to include the Chagossians, leaving them feeling excluded from negotiations on their future.
Like the Hong Kongers, the Chagossians have called for continued British rule over the archipelago, fearing what would happen to their family, friends and livelihoods if they were “surrendered” to Mauritian rule.
Chagossians have felt side-lined in in the negotiations between the UK and Mauritius
GETTY
Jean-Francois – a third-generation Chagossian – told GB News that he condemns the deal because he believes it to be fundamentally anti-democratic and has accused the Government of side-lining the views of the archipelago’s natives.
Speaking to the People’s Channel, he said: “For me, personally, I believe they can’t go back on this, because that will make them look silly. A referendum would be the most democratic approach.”
He compared the situation to that of British sovereignty over the Falklands and Gibraltar – both of which were both handed the option to maintain their status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom in a referendum.
In 1986, the Falkland Islanders voted resoundingly for continued British sovereignty with 96 per cent in favour.
More recently, in 2013, the Falkland Islanders responded with an overwhelming 99.8 per cent of the electorate opting to remain under British rule over Argentinian sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Gibraltar voted in a similar fashion in 1967 with 99.6 per cent in favour of UK sovereignty over Spanish sovereignty, falling just below to 98.9 per cent in 2002.
Asked why he campaigns to remain under British rule, he told GB News: “We’ve been facing racial discrimination. We’ve been living in poverty, like a second class citizen in Mauritius.
“The Chagossians have been discriminated against in Mauritius, and that’s been documented even at the UN. Now the UK, giving the island to Mauritius is erasing our identity.
One Chagossian has argued that a referendum would be the most democratic approach
GETTY
“Similarly, when [the UK] let go of Hong Kong. Now, China has taken over. The kind of erasure those from Hong Kong experienced – now, it is happening to us.”
Additionally, part of Starmer’s deal addresses visits by Chagossians to the atolls – which are permitted only if they are organised by Britain and Mauritius.
With his grandmother having been born on Diego Garcia and six other relatives on the island as well, Jean-Francois expressed his concern over the matter of visiting his family.
“My grandmother was born in Diego Garcia and she’s still alive,” he told GB News. “Ten of my relatives who are native to the Chagos, are still alive. Half of them were born on Diego Garcia, yeah, the main island where the military base is. About six of them – and I won’t be able to visit them under Mauritian rule.”
He added: “There are Filipinos living there, working there. Why not the natives? Why couldn’t the people who were born in Diego Garcia return?”
Another reason why Starmer’s “narcissistic virtue-signalling” has sparked outrage is its potential to enrage Britain’s American allies – and its power to overjoy China.
Reform leader Nigel Farage was quick to alert Keir Starmer of the perils of such a decision in October, claiming that “our American allies will be furious and Beijing delighted”.
His warning came just mere months after Lord Cameron paused the talks on the Mauritius handover as security concerns over Chinese influence heightened.
Reform leader Nigel Farage warned Keir Starmer of the perils of his decision in October
PA
Meanwhile, former Conservative defence minister Tobias Ellwood explained to GB News that comparison of the Chagos and Hong Kong was “too simplistic”.
Speaking to the People’s Channel, he said: “In both cases, we have assurances that neither would be permanent – unlike Gibraltar and the Falklands.”
While the Chagos would be reviewed in 99 years, Hong Kong is due to be revised in 2047, with the possibility of an extension.
Ellwood explained: “We took Hong Kong during the Opium Wars, where we essentially sold opium to China making the population high, addicted to the stuff, and draining China’s reserves.”
Meanwhile, in 1965, the US and UK purchased the archipelago for £3million to allow military activities to go ahead in the region.
“In the Chagos, we separated the islands before it gained independence. The Diego Garcia deal was a Cold War power move,” he added.
When asked whether Britain ought to retain that presence simply as a show of strength against China, he responded: “The deal on the table that involves the US allows us to stay there for those very reasons.
“We must retain a presence there – but we can’t undo some of the baggage in the 60s that limits our choices today.”
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Former Tory defence minister Tobias Ellwood explained to GB News that comparison of the Chagos and Hong Kong was ‘too simplistic’
PA
When the deal was first announced in October, immediate concern was flagged over the future of the Falklands – a point of national pride after they were so ardently defended by British troops in 1982.
However, the governor of the Falklands issued a rapid response in the wake of Starmer’s deal, wishing to “reassure” those concerned that “the legal and historical contexts of the Chagos Archipelago and the Falkland Islands are very different”.
“UK ministers have been very clear throughout the process that the UK will not agree to anything that runs the risk of jeopardising sovereignty in other Overseas Territories,” she said.
“The UK Government remains committed to defending the Falkland Islanders’ right of self-determination, and the UK’s unwavering commitment to defend UK sovereignty remains undiminished.”
Nevertheless, nervous speculators are not yet prepared to relinquish the idea that Starmer’s actions might extend beyond the Chagos to other surviving parts of British overseas territories.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “This Government inherited a situation where the long-term future of the military base was under threat. Our deal is rooted in a rational and hard-headed determination to protect UK security. Once signed it will protect the base on Diego Garcia and cement UK and US presence in the Indo-Pacific for generations to come.
“We regularly engage with members of the Chagossian community on a range of issues and will continue to do so.”
GB News has approached the Labour Party and No10 for comment.