Starmer's Chagos surrender is a national disgrace
Sir Keir Starmer has secured his legacy. For as long as British history is taught, his shameful surrender of the Chagos Islands will go down as this nation's foreign policy nadir.
The Prime Minister has negotiated a deal which cedes sovereign territory, hands over billions of pounds of taxpayer money, and appears to have been struck more out of an obsession with being seen to uphold even the most spurious interpretations of international law than for the benefit of Britain.
The legal justification for the surrender is paper thin. A non-binding opinion from an international court necessitated no action on the part of the British state, particularly when one of the judges involved in the decision was a former Chinese government official who proceeded to give backing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That Britain's strategic foes should seek to use international institutions to place pressure on this country is understandable; that the Prime Minister should fall for such a trap is unforgivable.
If the legal case is flimsy, the strategic case is weaker still. The 'national security' concerns are understood to have been proposed by Sir Keir's friend Philippe Sands, who represented Mauritius, and were described by an official who worked on the deal as an attempt to 'find a rationale'.
At a time when the public finances are under severe pressure, with the Chancellor likely to impose further tax rises on the population in the Autumn budget, to sign away not only the islands but a cash payment alongside them is beyond comprehension. It is an act of political and strategic vandalism that will live on in memories long after this wretched Government has passed.
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