Chaos Islands: Tom Tugendhat tears into David Lammy
David Lammy faced furious cries of “not true” as he defended the disastrous decision to give up the Chagos Islands.
The Foreign Secretary said the UK handed over the key strategic islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius because diplomats were facing a choice of “abandoning the base altogether or breaking international law”.
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Mr Lammy revealed the deal – struck between the UK and Mauritius – includes a provision that China will not be able to build a military base of its own on one of the 60 islands.
The joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia is used by American forces to support military campaigns in the Middle East – and is seen as “essential” to countering China in the Indo-Pacific.
David Lammy clashed with Andrew Mitchell over the future of the Chagos Islands (Image: Parliament TV)
David Lammy faced fury over the future of the Chagos Islands (Image: Parliament TV)
Mr Lammy told Parliament, as Tory MPs shouted “not true”: “A binding judgment against the UK seemed inevitable. It was just a matter of time before our only choices would have been abandoning the base altogether or breaking international law.
“Without surety of tenure, no bases can operate effectively, nor truly deter our enemies.
“It impacted on our relationship with the United States, who neither wanted, nor welcomed the legal uncertainty and strongly encouraged us to strike a deal.
“We have full Mauritian backing for robust security arrangements, including preventing foreign armed forces from accessing or establishing themselves on the outer islands.
“The base’s long-term future is therefore more secure under this agreement than without it.
“If this were not the case, I doubt the White House, State Department or Pentagon would have praised the deal.”
There are 47 Chinese development finance initiatives in Mauritius and trade between the two nations is growing.
But Mr Lammy clashed with furious Tory MPs over who was responsible for the deal, with Labour claiming negotiations began under the Conservatives.
But Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: “I can tell the house, Mr. Speaker, that this is a deal that the former Foreign Secretary, my noble friend, Lord Cameron, would never have done and nor my Right Honourable friend, the member from Braintree.
“When the world is more dangerous than at any point in our lifetimes, when the Middle East is now on the edge of serious conflict, when there is war in Europe, and when British military forces are engaged in protecting an ally from Iranian missiles, the government proposes to give away a key strategic military asset to a state which has never controlled it as to which the Chaggosian people feel little affinity, if any.
“The Government gives succour to our enemies in a dangerous world and undermines the strategic web of Britain’s defence.”
And Andrew Rosindell, Tory MP for Romford, says: “This is a shameful day for British democracy. This is a dark moment for human rights in the United Kingdom.
“This Government is handing their home over to a foreign country in cahoots with a hostile nation.
“The Foreign Secretary must commit to allowing the Chagossians, the British Chaggosian people, the right of self determination, just as we afford it to every other British Overseas Territory.
“Are the people of Chagos islands worth less than the Falkland Islanders or the Gibraltarians or any other British Overseas Territory? Will he commit to allow the people of the Chagos islands to decide their own destiny?”
Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat added: “The old principle that used to apply was the Wilson principle - the principle of self-determination that the Foreign Secretary may remember is the defence of the Falkland Islands, the defence of Gibraltar.
"He’s now just violated that principle by undermining the rights of the Chagossian people in favour of a claim that was abandoned in 1965, never really made because it was only administrative and never properly governed from Mauritius.
"In favour of a court whose judgement was advisory, he’s sold out the sovereignty of the British people.
"Truly nobody, apart from a boy called Jack, has ever made a worse deal on the way to market. He’s come back with a handful of beans that he’s trying to sell as a prize."
Senior American politicians have warned Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to give away the Chagos Islands “gives in to Chinese lawfare”.
Chaos Islands: David Lammy is heckled my Conservative MPs
The Chagos Islands are home to a key UK/US military base (Image: Getty)
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Republican politicians declared Beijing could exploit its relationship with Mauritius to pressure them over the US military base.
They said the facility is “essential” to countering China in the Indo-Pacific.
The US used Diego Garcia to fly bombing missions to Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and to Iraq from 2003.
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Since 2006, it has been used as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" facility to supply troops working in the Middle East.
Chagossians have spent decades fighting to return to the islands after more than 1,000 people were forced to leave in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for the military base.
Thousands of Chagossians now live around the world, mostly in Mauritius, the UK and the Seychelles.