Mauritius ‘to receive £35bn' for Chagos deal over 99 years
The higher figure, released after a freedom of information request to the Government Actuary's Department, is a nominal amount.
Adjusted to account for inflation, the deal is thought to be worth an average £101 million a year in 2025/26 terms, lowering the value to around £10 billion in today's money.
The UK Government has agreed to cede the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius but retain control of the military base on Diego Garcia.
Ministers feared that without a deal, the base's future was in doubt amid challenges in international courts and tribunals.
Dame Priti Patel said it was a terrible deal for the taxpayer (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
'We've all known it's a terrible deal with huge costs to hard-pressed British taxpayers,' Dame Priti wrote in The Telegraph, which first reported the figures.
'But for months, ministers in public and Parliament have sought to cover up the true amounts.'
Dame Priti also warned that 'instead of owning up to the costs, Labour has used an accountancy trick to claim the amount was only £3.4 billion – still a vast waste of money'.
She described the £35 billion figure as 'mind-blowing', and labelled Foreign Secretary David Lammy as ''Calamity' Lammy'.
Dame Priti accused him, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Attorney General Lord Hermer and special envoy for the negotiations Jonathan Powell of being 'the worst team of negotiators in history'.
The figures, seen by the PA news agency, show that the Government used a Treasury principle to reduce the figure by between 2.5% and 3.5% per year to £3.4 billion.
This 'social time preference', used since 2003, is based on the idea that taxpayers would prefer to get their return on the deal sooner rather than later.
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North Wales Chronicle
12 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Badenoch suggests migrants held in ‘camps' as crossings near 50,000 under Labour
The Conservative Party leader warned that some communities 'don't feel safe', as she visited Epping in Essex, where protesters have gathered in recent weeks opposing the decision to house asylum seekers in local hotels. Latest Home Office figures show that 49,797 people have arrived on British shores by small boat since Labour won last year's general election. Children were seen wrapped in blankets as they arrived into the Port of Ramsgate, Kent, by a lifeboat vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday. The Conservative Party has claimed the figure has surpassed 50,000 following Monday's arrivals, but the official numbers are yet to be confirmed. At Epping's Black Lion pub, Mrs Badenoch told members of the community: 'We've got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025. 'Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it.' She added: 'Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?' Asked what she meant by the suggestion, Mrs Badenoch told the PA news agency: 'We need to make sure that communities like Epping are safe. What a lot of the parents – the mothers and even some of the children – have said to me is that they don't feel safe. 'It is unfair to impose this burden on communities.' The MP for North West Essex said that 'lots of people here have been talking about being harassed by a lot of people in the hotels' and continued: 'Not everyone here is a genuine asylum seeker. People are arriving in our country illegally and that is why we have a plan to make sure that people who arrive here illegally are deported immediately. 'We need to close down that pathway to citizenship that means that lots of people get here not making any contributions, claiming welfare, claiming benefits. 'And we also need a deterrent.' The Government has previously set out its intention to close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. 'My worry is that things are actually going to get worse as Labour tries to move people out of hotels and into private accommodation – I think that is going to be a much worse situation,' Mrs Badenoch said. She had earlier told members of the community: 'As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.' Referring to protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think there can be a balance. 'There is a big difference between local people protesting about something that's happening in their midst and 'professional protesters' who turn up at lots of different events. 'They are not equivalent, and I think that there needs to be some recognition that people can be in their neighbourhood talking about something there, and other people who have an academic or a theoretical or political belief joining that to have a counter-protest. 'Also this is your home, this is your community, and that in my view is quite important. People should have some kind of precedence in their own communities versus other people randomly passing through, otherwise we start to change the nature of what protest is.' Demonstrations began on July 13 after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denies sexual assault and is due to stand trial this month. A group of refugee organisations and charities have urged party leaders to take a 'strong and united stand' after a wave of anti-migrant protests on the weekend. Hundreds of protesters in Nuneaton marched through the Warwickshire town on Saturday after two men, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, were charged over the rape of a 12-year-old girl. Signatories to an open letter, published on Monday, told politicians they hold a responsibility to 'end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past'. The letter, co-ordinated by campaign coalition Together With Refugees and signed by groups including Oxfam and Amnesty, said: 'Many of the people targeted have already suffered unimaginably, having fled for their lives from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria. 'Now, due to unacceptable delays and a broken system, they are housed in hotels, a collective target of hostility, banned from working, with limited control over their lives or futures.' The coalition added that an 'outpouring of support from communities condemning the hatred is a powerful reminder that these views do not represent the vast majority'. Some protesters, also protesting against asylum hotels and houses of multiple occupation, held signs reading 'What about our girls' human right to safety' at the Nuneaton demonstration. The End Violence Against Women Coalition – another signatory to the open letter – said the 'far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda' and added the 'attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls' autonomy, rights and freedoms'.
Glasgow Times
13 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Badenoch suggests migrants held in ‘camps' as crossings near 50,000 under Labour
The Conservative Party leader warned that some communities 'don't feel safe', as she visited Epping in Essex, where protesters have gathered in recent weeks opposing the decision to house asylum seekers in local hotels. Latest Home Office figures show that 49,797 people have arrived on British shores by small boat since Labour won last year's general election. Children were seen wrapped in blankets as they arrived into the Port of Ramsgate, Kent, by a lifeboat vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday. The Conservative Party has claimed the figure has surpassed 50,000 following Monday's arrivals, but the official numbers are yet to be confirmed. At Epping's Black Lion pub, Mrs Badenoch told members of the community: 'We've got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025. 'Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it.' She added: 'Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?' Asked what she meant by the suggestion, Mrs Badenoch told the PA news agency: 'We need to make sure that communities like Epping are safe. What a lot of the parents – the mothers and even some of the children – have said to me is that they don't feel safe. 'It is unfair to impose this burden on communities.' The MP for North West Essex said that 'lots of people here have been talking about being harassed by a lot of people in the hotels' and continued: 'Not everyone here is a genuine asylum seeker. People are arriving in our country illegally and that is why we have a plan to make sure that people who arrive here illegally are deported immediately. 'We need to close down that pathway to citizenship that means that lots of people get here not making any contributions, claiming welfare, claiming benefits. 'And we also need a deterrent.' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called for a deterrent (Lucy North/PA) The Government has previously set out its intention to close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. 'My worry is that things are actually going to get worse as Labour tries to move people out of hotels and into private accommodation – I think that is going to be a much worse situation,' Mrs Badenoch said. She had earlier told members of the community: 'As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.' Police outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex where there has been a number of demonstrations (Yui Mok/PA) Referring to protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think there can be a balance. 'There is a big difference between local people protesting about something that's happening in their midst and 'professional protesters' who turn up at lots of different events. 'They are not equivalent, and I think that there needs to be some recognition that people can be in their neighbourhood talking about something there, and other people who have an academic or a theoretical or political belief joining that to have a counter-protest. 'Also this is your home, this is your community, and that in my view is quite important. People should have some kind of precedence in their own communities versus other people randomly passing through, otherwise we start to change the nature of what protest is.' Protesters outside the former Bell Hotel in Epping (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Demonstrations began on July 13 after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denies sexual assault and is due to stand trial this month. A group of refugee organisations and charities have urged party leaders to take a 'strong and united stand' after a wave of anti-migrant protests on the weekend. Hundreds of protesters in Nuneaton marched through the Warwickshire town on Saturday after two men, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, were charged over the rape of a 12-year-old girl. Signatories to an open letter, published on Monday, told politicians they hold a responsibility to 'end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past'. The letter, co-ordinated by campaign coalition Together With Refugees and signed by groups including Oxfam and Amnesty, said: 'Many of the people targeted have already suffered unimaginably, having fled for their lives from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria. 'Now, due to unacceptable delays and a broken system, they are housed in hotels, a collective target of hostility, banned from working, with limited control over their lives or futures.' The coalition added that an 'outpouring of support from communities condemning the hatred is a powerful reminder that these views do not represent the vast majority'. Some protesters, also protesting against asylum hotels and houses of multiple occupation, held signs reading 'What about our girls' human right to safety' at the Nuneaton demonstration. The End Violence Against Women Coalition – another signatory to the open letter – said the 'far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda' and added the 'attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls' autonomy, rights and freedoms'.
The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Palestine Action co-founder accuses ministers of making defamatory claims
The co-founder of Palestine Action has accused ministers of making false and defamatory allegations about the banned group and contradicting their own intelligence assessments in an attempt to justify the arrest of more than 500 people. The government has come under pressure to justify the detention of 532 people arrested over the weekend under the Terrorism Act – half of whom were 60 or older – on suspicion of showing support for Palestine Action. The number of people arrested for peaceful protests, together with the images of older people being led away and the demands placed on the criminal justice system have led many to call into question the criminalisation of so many people. On Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson responded by saying that Palestine Action, which last month became the first direct action protest group to be banned, was 'a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury, extensive criminal damage'. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the BBC that Palestine Action 'is not a non-violent organisation' and claimed that court restrictions meant people 'don't know the full nature of this organisation'. But Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said: 'Yvette Cooper and No 10's claim that Palestine Action is a violent organisation is false and defamatory and even disproven by the government's own intelligence assessment of Palestine Action's activities … 'It was revealed in court during my ongoing legal challenge to the ban that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's (JTAC'S) assessment acknowledges that 'Palestine Action does not advocate for violence against persons' and that the 'majority' of its activities 'would not be classified as terrorism'. 'Spraying red paint on war planes is not terrorism. Disrupting Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems, by trespassing on their sites in Britain is not terrorism. It is the Israeli Defense Forces and all those who arm and enable their war crimes who are the terrorists.' JTAC, a government body based within MI5, produced a secret report on 7 March which was disclosed in the high court. While recommending banning Palestine Action, JTAC said the group 'primarily uses direct action tactics', which typically resulted in minor damage to property. 'Common tactics include graffiti, petty vandalism, occupation and lock-ons,' it added. Defend Our Juries, which has organised multiple demonstrations, including Saturday's, in support of Palestine Action, also highlighted Whitehall officials' description – again in documents revealed in court – of a ban as 'relatively novel' as 'there was no known precedent of an organisation being proscribed on the basis that it was concerned in terrorism mainly due to its use or threat of action involving serious damage to property'. A Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: 'It is despicable that under political pressure, Yvette Cooper is now actively misleading the British public about the nature of Palestine Action, knowing that if people come to their defence to counter her disinformation, she can have them jailed for 14 years [because they could be deemed to supporting a proscribed group].' The group said many hundreds of people had already committed to the next protest, which is likely to take place in early September and will be on an even larger scale. Uncertainty remains over the status of charges and prosecutions. Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates' Association, said: 'Based on the information that we currently have, and the statement put out by the Metropolitan Police yesterday, it could take days and possibly weeks for decisions to be made on whether or not to charge any of those arrested over the weekend. Many of these cases may also be heard in the crown courts, rather than magistrates courts.' Magistrates courts hear less serious cases although some charges under section 13 of the Terrorism Act are 'either way', meaning the defendant can choose whether to be tried before magistrates or a jury in the crown court. The Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: 'Personally I would go to the crown court because I know where the British public is, both on the genocide in Gaza and secondly on the British government's support for it, and thirdly on people not being allowed to express their opinions.' However, they added that they expected most charges to be laid under section 13, which are all heard in the magistrates courts, as the criminal justice system would not be able to cope with so many jury trials.
