Trump ‘laughing' at Starmer's Chagos deal, claims Badenoch
The Tory leader said the US president had 'got a great deal at the expense of the UK ' because Britain will meet the cost of the lease to maintain control of the vital Diego Garcia military base.
Sir Keir claimed the deal would cost £101 million annually, amounting to £3.4 billion over 99 years. However, the true cost will probably exceed £30 billion in cash terms because of rising inflation and additional schemes to fund development projects in Mauritius.
The military base is used by both the UK and the US and while the former will pay for the lease, the latter will continue to cover operating costs.
Mrs Badenoch has labelled the deal with Mauritius 'wasteful' and 'dangerous' and on Friday morning she said it had ' not been done in our national interests '.
She told the BBC Breakfast programme: 'Our country is getting poorer and it is getting weaker because of the decisions that Labour is making.
'Donald Trump is laughing at that Chagos deal, he is welcoming it, because he is not going to have to pay very much, if anything at all.
'He has got a great deal at the expense of the UK. That is not right. It hasn't been done in our national interests.'
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson said the 'Chagos surrender is beyond belief'.
He posted on X: 'Why are we paying a foreign country up to £30bn to take an asset that belongs to Britain? Why are we damaging our long-term national security? Starmer looks like a man with a bizarre and pointless fetish for self-mutilation.'
The White House has expressed support for the deal. Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, said the agreement 'secures the long-term, stable and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia, which is critical to regional and global security'.
Luke Pollard, the UK's armed forces minister, said the US actually pays 'many multiples more' to operate the base than Britain will pay to Mauritius to maintain control of it.
Asked why the US was not contributing to the cost of leasing back the base, Mr Pollard told Times Radio: 'What we are bringing to the deal is the real estate, the UK will be leasing the base and the Americans pay for the operating costs of the base – now that is many multiples more than the leasing cost.'
Mr Pollard rejected a claim made by the Tories that Sir Keir had used 'dodgy accounting' when presenting the cost of the deal.
He told Sky News: 'No. That is not right. It is £3.4 billion rather than the figure that you gave there. And it is calculated using the Treasury's rules and has been verified by the Government Actuary's Department and this is exactly the same way we calculate other long term costs such as pensions, investments in infrastructure or nuclear decommissioning.
'So it is £3.4 billion over 99 years. That represents good value and it is also comparable to other allies leasing bases in the region.'
Ministers argued the deal needed to be done because the UK would have faced legal challenges 'within weeks' which could have jeopardised the operation of the Indian Ocean base.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Former Salmond staffer rejects Sturgeon claims in book as ‘obviously false'
Nicola Sturgeon's new book contains 'falsehoods at worst, fabrications at best' about her predecessor, Alex Salmond's former chief of staff has claimed. Geoff Aberdein, who worked for Mr Salmond when he was first minister, hit out at Ms Sturgeon, saying: 'I was brought up that you didn't speak ill of the dead. 'But I think if you're going to speak ill of the dead, at least make your claims accurate.' He told the Holyrood Sources podcast that Mr Salmond's widow Moira was 'particularly upset and frustrated at a lot of what has been said' about her late husband, who died suddenly in October 2024. Mr Aberdein continued: 'I think it was important to set out and correct the record not just because Alex is not in position to defend himself, but for myself as well and the series of other officials and civil servants that have contacted me.' Claims that Mr Salmond was the person who leaked the story of the sexual harassment allegations against him are 'obviously false', Mr Aberdein insisted. He said that when his former boss took the phone call to say the story about the allegations was being published by the Daily Record he was actually meeting lawyers to 'draft a legal summons to prevent Nicola Sturgeon's Government from making the allegations public'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'To suggest Alex was simultaneously leaking documents deeply damaging to his reputation whilst at the same time paying lawyers a lot of money to get a court order to prevent publication of the same material is just utterly absurd.' Mr Salmond went on to be acquitted of all the charges against him in a court case in 2020. Mr Aberdein also dismissed claims by Ms Sturgeon that Mr Salmond 'didn't read' the white paper on independence which had been produced by the Scottish government in the run up to the 2014 referendum. In her recently published memoir, Frankly, Ms Sturgeon spoke out about her 'cold fury' with her former leader over his 'abdication of responsibility' on the key document. Mr Aberdein – who said he would not be reading the book – accepted that his former boss 'delegated the responsibility for drafting the white paper to Nicola Sturgeon'. However he insisted: 'To suggest, as I think was the purpose of this story, that he wasn't engaged in the process of a prospectus for independence is utterly nonsense. The former Salmond chief of staff also rejected claims that Mr Salmond was 'apparently against same-sex marriage' – saying that this was 'demonstrably false'. Mr Aberdein told the podcast Mr Salmond had 'declared his personal support for gay marriage for the first time' in a newspaper article in April 2011. And he added that while the SNP election manifesto that year had pledged to consult on the issue Mr Salmond 'chose to come out… excuse the pun, the turn of phrase, ahead of that result, to say that he personally supported it.' With the SNP having won the 2011 Holyrood election, Mr Aberdein recalled 'being in the room with advisors, civil servants and indeed ministers about how we would go about reassuring different sections of our society about that legislation, particularly religious leaders and other civic leaders'. He also made the 'obvious point' that 'if Alex Salmond didn't want legislation to be progressed, he was the first minister of a majority SNP government, it wouldn't have been progressed'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'The point falls down on that alone.'
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Met Police's use of live facial recognition is 'unlawful', equality watchdog warns
The use of live facial recognition by Britain's biggest police force is 'unlawful' and not compatible with human rights laws, the equalities watchdog has said. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has claimed Scotland Yard's rules and safeguards fall short of standards and could have a 'chilling effect' on individuals' rights when deployed at protests. Live facial recognition (LFR) is set to be deployed by the force at Notting Hill Carnival over the August bank holiday weekend. More than one million people are expected to converge on the streets of west London for the annual celebration. And Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has already sought to reassure campaign groups that the technology will be used without bias. And a spokesman from the force said it believes its use of the tool is 'both lawful and proportionate, playing a key role in keeping Londoners safe.' The EHRC has been given permission to intervene in an upcoming judicial review over LFR, brought by privacy campaigner Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo and anti-knife crime community worker Shaun Thompson. They are seeking the legal challenge claiming Mr Thompson was 'grossly mistreated' after LFR wrongly identified him as a criminal last year. EHRC chief executive John Kirkpatrick said the technology, when used responsibly, can help combat serious crime and keep people safe, but the biometric data being processed is 'deeply personal'. 'The law is clear: everyone has the right to privacy, to freedom of expression and to freedom of assembly. These rights are vital for any democratic society,' he said. 'As such, there must be clear rules which guarantee that live facial recognition technology is used only where necessary, proportionate and constrained by appropriate safeguards. 'We believe that the Metropolitan Police's current policy falls short of this standard. The Met, and other forces using this technology, need to ensure they deploy it in ways which are consistent with the law and with human rights.' The watchdog said it believes the Met's policy is 'unlawful' because it is 'incompatible' with Articles 8, right to privacy, 10, freedom of expression, and 11, freedom of assembly and association of the European Convention on Human Rights. Big Brother Watch interim director Rebecca Vincent said the involvement of EHRC in the judicial review was hugely welcome in the 'landmark legal challenge'. 'The rapid proliferation of invasive live facial recognition technology without any legislation governing its use is one of the most pressing human rights concerns in the UK today,' she said. 'Live facial recognition surveillance turns our faces into barcodes and makes us a nation of suspects who, as we've seen in Shaun's case, can be falsely accused, grossly mistreated and forced to prove our innocence to authorities.' 'Given this crucial ongoing legal action, the Home Office and police's investment in this dangerous and discriminatory technology is wholly inappropriate and must stop.' It comes as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended plans to expand LFR across the country to catch 'high-harm' offenders last week. Last month, the Metropolitan Police announced plans to expand its use of the technology across the capital. Police bosses said LFR will now be used up to ten times per week across five days, up from the current four times per week across two days. A Met spokesman said the force welcomes the EHRC's recognition of the technology's potential in policing, and that the Court of Appeal has confirmed police can use LFR under common law powers. 'As part of this model, we have strong safeguards in place, with biometric data automatically deleted unless there is a match," they said. 'Independent research from the National Physical Laboratory has also helped us configure the technology in a way that avoids discrimination.'
The Sun
20 minutes ago
- The Sun
Tottenham ‘consider astonishing new Eze transfer bid that would see Richarlison move on and Newcastle MISS OUT on Wissa'
TOTTENHAM are reportedly considering a stunning 11th hour change to their transfer offer for Eberechi Eze, which would allow them to also sign Yoane Wissa. SunSport understand Spurs and Crystal Palace made a breakthrough in talks on Tuesday by agreeing a payment structure for a £60million deal. 2 2 However, reports suggest the North London club have made a late alteration by offering to send Richarlison - who scored twice in the 3-0 win over Burnley at the weekend - in a part-exchange. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
