Latest news with #BritishSovereignty
Telegraph
02-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Tory peers in last-ditch attempt to block Chagos Islands giveaway
Conservative peers have launched a last-ditch attempt to stop Sir Keir Starmer from giving the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Tories in the Lords have put forward a fatal motion to block the Chagos Islands treaty signed by Sir Keir last month. The deal will give up British sovereignty over the archipelago, known in the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory, and see the UK pay Mauritius £30 billion over 99 years. Lord Callanan, the shadow foreign minister in the Lords, put forward a motion demanding that the Government 'should not ratify the agreement', citing cost and security concerns. The peer told The Telegraph: 'Spooked by a last minute legal fight, the Government's unnecessary political decision to sign away our sovereignty over the Chagos Islands will cost the British taxpayer £30 billion and put our strategic defence interests at risk. 'Taxpayers and businesses have already been hit hard by Labour's vindictive tax rises, and pensioners have been left cold from the cruel winter fuel payment cut. This Chagos sellout shows Labour's true priorities. That is why Conservatives are leading the fight against this shameful surrender deal in the House of Lords.' The Lords motion cites 'concerns about the cost of the agreement, the absence of any legal requirement to conclude such an agreement, its impact on international security, the lack of any meaningful consultation of the Chagossian people, and recognising the right of Chagossians to be registered as British Overseas Territory citizens under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022'. If a subsequent vote passes, the Government could be forced to make a statement in the Commons to explain why it is ignoring the upper chamber. It is the first time a Lords front bench has sought to use the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, passed in 2010, to block a treaty. A fatal motion, if passed, halts the process of the legislation, and the Government would ordinarily have to start again. But in the case of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, a minister can choose to override the Lords by making a statement in the Commons. Meanwhile, Misley Mandarin, a British Chagossian, is being supported by the Great British PAC, a conservative movement headed by Ben Habib, the former Reform deputy leader, to take legal action against the Government. The organisation said it had raised enough money to launch a review and cover legal fees, but is seeking another £20,000 to underwrite the case. Mr Mandarin said: 'We were evicted from our homeland by a past Labour government. Now the current Labour Government is doing something even worse – stripping us of our right to self-determination.' Mr Habib said: 'This is not just a treaty, it's a national betrayal, done behind closed doors and without a democratic mandate. But it's not too late to stop it. This is a test of whether our Government is accountable to the law, and whether Parliament has the facts to do the right thing'. The Government's announcement of the Chagos Islands deal was temporarily delayed after a legal challenge was launched by Beatrice Pompe, a Chagossian. But the last-minute bid was dismissed by the High Court, allowing Sir Keir to sign the agreement and announce that a deal had been done. Last week, China welcomed the agreement as a 'massive achievement', despite the Prime Minister having claimed that Beijing had opposed it. Beijing's ambassador to Mauritius confirmed that the nation would soon join Beijing's Belt and Road initiative.
Al Jazeera
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
UK court temporarily blocks deal to hand Chagos Islands to Mauritius
A British High Court judge has temporarily blocked the government from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The last-minute injunction on Thursday morning came hours before the agreement was expected to be signed at a virtual ceremony with representatives from the Mauritian government. The High Court decision was granted after action was taken by Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, two British nationals who were born at the Diego Garcia military base on Chagos and claimed that the islands should remain under British control. High Court judge Julian Goose temporarily blocked the British government from taking any 'conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government'. 'The defendant is to maintain the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom over the British Indian Ocean Territory until further order,' he said. Another court hearing is set for 10.30am (09:30 GMT). Earlier this year, the lawyer for the two nationals, Michael Polak, said on his chambers website that the government's attempt to 'give away' the islands without formal consultation with its residents is a 'continuation of their terrible treatment by the authorities in the past'. 'They remain the people with the closest connection to the islands, but their needs and wishes are being ignored,' Polak said. The UK, which has controlled the region since 1814, separated the Chagos Islands in 1965 from Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. In the early 1970s, the government evicted about 1,500 residents to Mauritius and Seychelles to make way for the Diego Garcia airbase on the largest island. In October, the government announced a draft agreement to hand the islands to Mauritius and allow Britain and the United States to continue using the Diego Garcia base under a 99-year lease. US President Donald Trump's administration, which was consulted on the deal, gave its approval. However, finalising the agreement was delayed by a change in government in Mauritius and reported last-minute negotiations over costs.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer to hand Mauritius billions in Chagos deal
Sir Keir Starmer is set to sign away the Chagos Islands and give Mauritius billions of pounds in a controversial deal. The Prime Minister will attend a 'virtual signing ceremony' with representatives from the Mauritian government on Thursday, The Telegraph can reveal. Sir Keir's deal will give up British sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, known in the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), and agree to a 99-year lease to rent back a military base there. The Foreign Office has closely guarded the terms of the deal, but it is expected to include a large up-front payment for use of the Diego Garcia base, which is shared with the US military, and an annual rental fee. There will also be a new 'Chagos fund', which will see Britain contribute development funding for Mauritius. In total, it is expected that the deal will cost the UK taxpayer around £9 billion, and result in the first significant loss of British territory since the independence of Hong Kong in 1997. Critics, including the Conservative and Reform UK parties, have warned that the deal will put the military base at risk because of Mauritius's diplomatic ties with Britain's enemies abroad including Russia, Iran and China. It comes three days after Sir Keir was accused of betraying Brexit with an EU 'reset' agreement that will allow Europe access to British fishing waters for 12 years and force the UK to follow Brussels' rules on food standards. Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: 'We stand on the verge of another day of shame for Britain – a betrayal of our national interest by Labour, conveniently timed for the last day before Parliamentary recess. 'After his embarrassing bowing down to Brussels, it seems Keir Starmer is now set on further humiliating this country by handing over our own sovereign territory to Mauritius, and then asking the British public to pay billions for the indignity of it. Whenever Labour negotiates, Britain loses. 'Parliament must be given the time it needs to properly scrutinise this disastrous deal – and the Conservatives will fight to ensure that happens.' Sir Keir is expected to sign the agreement on Thursday morning, before MPs are updated on the deal in the House of Commons. Conservative and Reform MPs are expected to oppose the deal, although there will be no formal vote in the Commons to ratify it. Conservative sources say that the governments of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak never intended to give away the islands. But after Labour won power last July, Sir Keir appointed one of his closest allies, Jonathan Powell, as the UK's 'special envoy for BIOT'. He has since been in charge of negotiating the deal to give the islands away. The Labour government argues that the legal ambiguity around the islands is a national security risk, and that the 'operation of the base' on Diego Garcia could be endangered if another court were to issue a binding ruling against the UK. Foreign Office sources said the deal would also contain security clauses that would prevent China or Russia from establishing spy bases on islands close to the military base. However, The Telegraph has reported that Mauritius has been growing closer to Russia, Iran and China in recent months, with representatives from the governments exchanging warm words on diplomatic visits. Under the deal, Diego Garcia will become the sovereign territory of Mauritius, although the UK and US will have exclusive use of it for 99 years. The deal may also include an opportunity to agree a 40-year extension to the lease at a later stage. The unveiling of the deal on Thursday will lay to rest speculation that Downing Street had scrapped it after criticism from Labour's political opponents, with sources telling The Times that it had become 'toxic'. Sources in Mauritius said the deal was agreed in principle some weeks ago, but that the signing ceremony had been delayed by the UK. Although the deal was supported by Joe Biden's US administration, Foreign Office officials became concerned that Donald Trump would try to force Britain to abandon it after he won November's presidential election. However, Mr Trump told reporters during Sir Keir's visit to the White House in February that he had 'a feeling it's going to work out very well '. Since then it has been formally signed off by national security officials in Washington, including from the CIA, British government sources said. Negotiations over the Chagos islands began under the previous Conservative administration, after the UK lost a case at the International Court of Justice in 2019 that ruled that Mauritius should have sovereignty over the archipelago. The tiny island chain, in the centre of the Indian Ocean, has strategic importance for both the British and American militaries, and has been used by both countries for bombing runs in the Middle East. However, critics argue that the islands should have been given up by the UK when Mauritius was given independence in 1968. They also point to the forced expulsion of Chagossians from the islands to make way for the military base in the 1960s, for which the UK has since apologised. The deal will reportedly include a scheme for Chagossians, the native people of the Chagos islands, who wish to return there. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We are working to sign a deal which will safeguard the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia, which is vital to our national security.'
