Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has branded Labour’s surrender of the Chagos Islands as “total nonsense”.
Boris Johnson blasts Starmer for ‘completely wrong’ Chagos Islands decision (Image: Getty)
Britain is giving up sovereignty of the remote group of islands in return for securing the long-term future of a strategically important military base.
The UK Government said it has reached a political agreement with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, following negotiations which began in 2022.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Johnson slammed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, claiming the Labour Government are “trying to look like the good guys”.
The islands are incredibly remote (Image: Getty)
He said: “It’s crazy. I urge viewers of GB News to get out your maps, get out your atlases, check out the Chagos Islands, see where they are, and see where Mauritius is.
“It’s nonsense. It’s total nonsense. Why are we doing this? Sheer political correctness, a desire to look like the good guys. The desire to look as they were unbundling the last relics of our empire. It’s nonsense.
“It’s a bad idea in hard geopolitical terms because the base in Diego Garcia is, I’m sure you know, for all our viewers know, is of huge strategic importance for the US, for the West. And it’s a key component of the Anglo-American alliance. It’s one of the things we bring to the table, and has been for decades that base.
“Why are we trading away our sovereignty over Chagos? Completely the wrong thing to do.”
Mauritius will assume sovereignty over the Indian Ocean archipelago while the joint US-UK military base remains on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
The Foreign Office said the agreement means the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure.
But Conservative leadership candidates reacted angrily, with former foreign secretary James Cleverly labelling the Government “weak” and Robert Jenrick saying there has been a “surrender”.
Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the military base.
The expulsions are regarded as one of the most shameful parts of Britain’s modern colonial history and Chagossians have spent decades fighting to return to the islands.
The United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, previously ruled the UK’s administration of the territory was “unlawful” and must end.
Meanwhile Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned Labour does not “seem to take the security of the West seriously” by handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The former Cabinet minister said that Sir Keir Starmer was giving over the Indian Ocean territory to a country “with whom we have a tricky relationship”.
Sir Jacob told GB News: “We lost a legal action and therefore the government entered into talks. But interestingly, when the Conservatives were in office, as these sorts of ideas were floated, they were being heavily shot down, not least by Conservative backbenchers.
“But Labour doesn’t seem to take the security of the West seriously.”
He added: “Tom Tugendhat has pointed out that there are a lot of other islands there and China might want to have a base. It might be quite attractive.
“And Mauritius is not just some small, minor, independent country. It’s an important ally of China that gets lots of money from China. So we’re actually handing something over to people who, it would be wrong to call enemies of ours, but with whom we have a tricky relationship.”
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Sir Keir Starmer is facing fresh questions over the deal with Mauritius (Image: Getty)
The Prime Minister, who is facing widespread fury over the UK’s decision to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, will face further questions over his relationship with Philippe Sands KC.
Sands is the chief legal adviser for the island and has argued for Mauritian control of the islands.
He said in January: “At the outset, I wish to make clear that as a member of the Bar of England and Wales I have acted as counsel to Mauritius since 2010 in relation to the Chagos Archipelago.
“As such, I have been involved in the proceedings before the Annex VII arbitral tribunal (2010-2015), the International Court of Justice (ICJ, 2017-2019) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS, 2019-2023).
“I continue to advise the Government of Mauritius.”
After news broke of the UK’s decision to give away the Chagos Islands, Mr Sands posted on X: “A special day for Mauritius, for Chagossians, for international law.”
Former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps raged over the decision on Thursday, declaring: “As Defence Secretary I was so concerned about the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands that I blocked the deal from proceeding.
“Today, this government has announced it’s abandoned our sovereignty of the Archipelago, including the militarily essential Diego Garcia.
The islands are a key military base for the US (Image: Getty)
“The government’s joint statement fails to address FOUR urgent questions:
“1. What happens after 99 years and specifically, is renewal then automatic? If not, then Starmer has just signed up to a Hong Kong style situation, which hasn’t worked out well.
“2. Exactly how much is the new rental payment to the government of Mauritius? The sums being demanded were both enormous and indexed linked. The government must release this number immediately.
“3. How has the government ensured continued military use of Diego Garcia, especially since the location of these islands could be impacted by the Treaty of Pelindaba (also known as the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treat).
“4. How will this capitulation help when it comes to protecting other British assets like Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and our two Sovereign Bases in Cyprus – all of which face varying levels of sovereignty challenge?”
