If you only read Conservative media you may mistakenly believe that the new Labour government was able to negotiate the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in just a few weeks. An agreement like this should have taken about two years to complete.
Well, it turns out the negotiations did take about two years. Hang on. Does this mean that David Lammy and the fictitious Deep State went behind the Conservative government’s backs and negotiated on behalf of the UK? No. It was the Conservative government that began the negotiations, worked with Mauritius on the deal and finalised the negotiations. It was Lammy and Starmer’s job to sign off on the legal paperwork (and take all the blame in right-wing “news” outlets).
In a statement to parliament, Lammy told MPs: “It’s critical for our national security. Without security of tenure, there will be no base. The deal benefits us, the UK, the US and Mauritius.” Lammy is correct. The agreement with Mauritius was a good one from the British perspective as it would improve relations with African nations and makes it clear that the new government respects international law more than the previous one (which wouldn’t be difficult) while still maintaining a military base in a strategic area.
However, Conservatives are not happy with the agreement their party negotiated. The Tory leadership contenders have already started using it to score cheap political points: Tom Tugendhat calls it a “shameful retreat” (even though the UK isn’t retreating, we have the military base for another 99 years) and James Cleverly claimed ministers who negotiated the deal were “weak, weak, weak” – despite the negotiations beginning on his watch. It is pretty funny that Cleverly basically just called himself weak during a leadership contest. In 2022, Cleverly wrote a ministerial statement in which he stated that he felt the British resistance to handing over the Chagos Islands was hampering the UK’s ability to build alliances in the region. The fact that Cleverly is attacking his own deal is the height of political hypocrisy.
Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell, took things further claiming that Cleverly and Cameron would not have agreed to the deal that both men negotiated .
Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell attacked Labour for not involving the local Chagossians in the decision saying “already the people of the Chagos Islands have been forcibly removed from their homeland, today this [Labour] Government is handing their home over to a foreign country…” I must repeat this again, the negotiations were by the Conservatives and therefore the decision to exclude Chagossians was also the fault of the Conservatives. Blaming the Labour government for something your party did just to score a few political points in the media is disgusting.
The agreement also gives Chagossians the right to become British citizens. When the Labour government starts giving Chagossians British citizenship I guarantee that Tory MPs, including those who negotiated this, would start stirring up anti-Chagossian racism in the press.
Liberal Democrat MPs should be calling out this hypocrisy. Every time Cleverly complains about the deal remind people it was his deal. If Cleverly wins, remind him in parliament that he is a hypocrite and lied in the papers for cheap political points. Criticising other political parties is a part of politics but criticising another party for something you as in individual MP did needs to be called out not just by Labour MPs but by Lib Dem MPs as well. If Conservative or Reform MPs falsely state that Starmer surrendered the islands, it must be pointed out that the Conservatives did the negotiations.
Likewise, the Lib Dems need to ensure that Chagossians who want British citizenship receive citizenship (I have little doubt the Labour government would prevent this but a future Tory one might). The handover of the islands has the potential to strengthen UK relations with African countries and improve our standing within the international justice system and this is an opportunity that needs to be seized upon. If the UK fails to convince African nations that the UK can be a trusted partner that respects its agreements, another country notably Russia or China might. Conservative hypocrisy over the Chagos agreement may put this built up of trust at risk.
* Jack Wilkin is a Research & Development Scientist at Bluecap Resources (Penryn, Cornwall) and an Honorary Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. He is also a Member of the Liberal Democrats.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Why non-fiction books need their indexes
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap up
What should the Liberal Democrats stand for?
Ben Wood
Ed Sanderson
Jack
Matt (Bristol)
John Grout
11 Comments
What of Lammy misleading the house in saying the Chagossians had been consulted on the deal, when they didn’t hear about it until it was announced in the press?
If anyone has had a raw deal in all of this it is the Chagossians. Who is speaking up for them?
I think this article provides a different viewpoint. Yes, there has been rank hypocriscy from many Conservatives, but I am not quite sure that means we should rush to the defence of David Lammy: https://scottish-liberal.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-chagos-islands-mauritius-and-icj.html
Bearing in mind that the Chagossians haven’t lived there for about half a century, how do you identify them to consult them? I understand that some were resettled in Mauritius and perhaps elsewhere. Do they form a community of their own- there or elsewhere?
A couple of other thoughts: how would returning Chagossians support themselves?
What is the effect of the UK declared maritime reserves around the Chagos (disputed by Mauritius and others) ?
A cynic might think, that, in the event of rising ocean levels (a matter of particular concern to the neighbouring Maldives), a 99 year lease on the base is more than would ever be needed.
Altogether a complex situation going back to the high-handed actions of the UK (and, though us, the US) half a century ago.
I agree with the concerns regarding the Chagossians, highlighted by Joe and Mark. The fact that the situation is undoubtedly complex should not mean that the Lib Dem’s can ignore this issue as they and the other mainstream parties seem to be doing.
I worked with a Mauritian in the 1980s who had worked as a contract labourer (indentured servant) in the Chagos Islands plantations. Mauritius and the Chagos Island had been French Slave plantations for a century before the territories were taken by Britain from the French in 1810.
Mauritius was populated by slaves brought by Arab traders from the Africa’s Swahili east coast, Madagascar and Zanzibar as well as indentured Indians from Pondicherry; later Chinese traders arrived and settled on the island. A ruling cast of Frenchman ruled this diverse crowd.
Mauritius was given independence by Britain in 1968. The Chagos Islands were split out from Mauritius by the Labour government of Harold Wilson and Mauritius was compensated for the transfer of the territory.
An estimated 2,000 native Chagossians (who were largely employed as plantation workers and fishermen) were expelled.They moved either to Mauritius or to Crawley in West Sussex. The Chargossian diaspora is now estimated to number 10,000 people. The expulsion was done to allow Britain to give a lease to the United States to operate an air force base on Diego Garcia, the largest atoll in the Chagos Archipelago.
In 2010, David Milliband created a marine reserve covering the Chagos Archipelago’s 250,000 square miles, an area more than twice the size of the UK.
The current labour government decision to give up sovereignity over the Islands is in response to a 2019 non-binding judgement of the ICJ that Britain ‘has an obligation to end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible.’ and the 2021 United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruling that the UK had ‘no sovereignty over the Chagos Islands’UN court rules UK has no sovereignty over Chagos islands
“An estimated 2,000 native Chagossians (who were largely employed as plantation workers and fishermen) were expelled.They moved either to Mauritius or to Crawley in West Sussex. ”
I believe those who went to Crawley are still around there – they ended up there because of its proximity to Gatwick.
I struggle to see how handing Chagos over to Mauritius, which is 1000s of miles away, amounts to decolonisation rather than further colonisation.
What claim does Mauritius have here?
“Bearing in mind that the Chagossians haven’t lived there for about half a century, how do you identify them to consult them?” It’s a good point but it reminds me that the UN has no difficulty recognising the rights of Palestinians descended from those who left Israel three-quarters of a century ago. The agreement over the Chago Islands is to be welcomed and adds to the UK’s post-colonial credentials but it shows how the international justice system upholds the rights and sovereignty of Mauritius but not those of Israel.
“Bearing in mind that the Chagossians haven’t lived there for about half a century, how do you identify them to consult them?”
There are such things as birth certificates! While the Chagossians are similar in ethnicity and language to Creoles in Mauritius, they have not completely assimilated into the wider Creole community – and they are certainly vocal politically, demonstrating outside the British High Commission in Port Louis.
Totally agree with this article.
The agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands seems totally wrong to me: I see no ethical reason why Mauritius should gain sovereignty over a set of islands that is far from Mauritian territory: Their claim seems to be motivated only by a form of imperialism. By handing over the islands, we’ve abandoned the Chagossians, given the nod to Mauritian imperialism, agreed to make financial payments to Mauritius where none were necessary previously, and undertaken the risk of losing a military base in 139 years, with no idea what the situation will be or whether we’ll need the base in that time. And we apparently gain nothing at all in return other than some speculative and
probably very short term diplomatic brownie points.
But it was the Conservatives who started the ball rolling on this agreement. They are to blame for it as much as Labour and it’s totally hypocritical of them to attack Labour over it.
I believe that the Chagos islands should remain a British colony.
The ICJ gives many rulings that tend to be ignored worldwide and this should be another one.
I think the Chagosians should be invited back to a part well clear and safe from the air base and Britiain continue to lease to the USA and these funds used to the security and benefit of Britain and Chagos.