The folly of Keir Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal

It would be natural to assume that sinking bond markets would be the government’s priority this week, as low UK growth and high borrowing rattles investors. Yet remarkably the Prime Minister’s attentions seem to be focused elsewhere: on advancing a deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in the days before Donald Trump is inaugurated for his second term as US President. Trump is an opponent of the deal for good reason. The US military base on Diego Garcia proved invaluable during the two Gulf Wars.

Keir Starmer is yet to meet an international tribunal he won’t genuflect before

Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, appears to be motivated by a desire to observe the rule of international law. Seven years ago the International Court of Justice delivered a ruling that Britain has an ‘obligation’ to end its administration of the Chagos Islands. The United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has since ruled that the UK does not have sovereignty over the Chagos Islands. The genuine authority of these edicts is questionable but Starmer is yet to meet an international tribunal he won’t genuflect before. In his eyes, an arrangement by which Britain cedes sovereignty but then leases back its base on Diego Garcia for a term of 99 years is a way for the government to abide by the law while continuing to look after our defence interests.

It is true that the way in which the military base on Diego Garcia was set up in the 1960s was harsh, judged by the standards of today. The 1,800 residents of the Chagos Islands were removed, settling in Mauritius or Crawley in West Sussex. Medical facilities were closed and supply ships withdrawn to force them to leave. That these tactics were employed by Harold Wilson’s Labour government perhaps unsettles Starmer.