Starmer has lost sight of the national interest
The Government is sinking deeper into the mire of the Chagos arrangement it has sought to reach with Mauritius. How this deal benefits the country is anyone's guess. The Prime Minister is now arguing that there are mysterious national security reasons for this baffling decision.
In order to secure the long-term use of the military base on Diego Garcia, part of the archipelago, he said it was necessary to hand the islands over to Mauritius, a country more than 1,200 miles away, and to pay it £9 billion for the privilege of doing so. 'Without legal certainty the base cannot operate in practical terms as it should,' Sir Keir said.
Are we really expected to believe that a non-binding judgment by a UN-based international court has made it impossible for the UK and the US to continue operating from Diego Garcia as they have done for decades? On what possible basis can that be true, other than in the most abstruse legalistic terms? It is emblematic of the Prime Minister's willingness to accept any legal opinion as gospel.
Sir Keir is in thrall to fellow human rights lawyers like the Attorney General Lord Hermer and his friend Philippe Sands KC, who advised Mauritius. He has lost sight of the national interest in a thicket of legal documents.
We need to see the details of the deal, how much it costs, who benefits and the alleged national security reasons cited by Sir Keir must be spelled out. The agreement is on hold pending the opinion of President Trump. But if Washington says no, will the Prime Minister proceed anyway and jeopardise UK relations with the White House? He needs to back down now.
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