On the subject of Starmer’s obsession with the law (except when it doesn’t suit him), his disastrous deal to give away the Chagos Islands is back in the news, with the bill to cede sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius set to be forced through its final stages in the House of Lords this week.
Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to give away the Chagos Islands “permanently weakens western security” and “sells out the Chagossian people”, a senior figure in the British overseas territory has said, after warnings that Mauritius could roll back environmental protections in the area….
The deal struck by the prime minister in May last year will involve Britain paying Mauritius £101 million a year to lease back a joint US-UK military base on the island of Diego Garcia.
The islands are known as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and are overseen by an administration of about 70 people, many of whom are based in London. These officials govern the islands alongside the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office.
The Times has been told that those governing the islands have consistently expressed concerns about the deal, especially over the implications for former Chagos residents.
A senior figure in the BIOT told The Times the deal was being “championed by a small number of [Foreign Office] civil servants”, and said that “in multiple conversations with military and BIOT administration staff it is clear that there is no one who supports this treaty, but they have not been part of the negotiations, and their opinions have largely been ignored.”
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “I haven’t met a single person in the UK or US hierarchy who thinks this treaty is anything but a bad idea.”
The intervention came as a report by the Policy Exchange think tank warned that the deal puts at risk the “pristine marine ecosystem” around the Chagos Islands.
Britain currently enforces a large marine protected area that protects almost 800 species of fish and 50 species of birds, many of which cannot be found elsewhere.
Mauritius plans to open up almost all of the waters to fishing and Britain would have no legal recourse under the treaty if the new owners fail to protect the environment.
Richard Ekins KC, a University of Oxford law professor and the head of the judicial power project at the Policy Exchange, said Mauritius was “unlikely to protect — and may well exploit — this vital marine environment”.
Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory in the 1960s to make way for the military base and access to the islands is restricted. Two women born on Diego Garcia briefly halted the signing of the deal last year after claiming the government unlawfully prevented Chagossians from having a say in the future of the islands.
Britain entered into negotiations with Mauritius under the previous government after the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion saying the UK was under an obligation to bring an end to its administration of the Chagos Islands.
Ministers argued they had no choice but to negotiate a deal before a formal court ruling put the legal basis of the Diego Garcia base in jeopardy.
But the senior BIOT figure said this argument was being advanced in government by “Starmer’s legal buddy” Philippe Sands KC, “who actually took our government to court, working for Mauritius, who has Mauritian citizenship and who has been awarded the highest possible civil honours by that government.”
Ah, Philippe Sands. We met him yesterday. “Jews are not the only community that are targeted, and right now there’s Muslims, or immigrants, or trans people, or black people. Other people have their stories which are not to be minimised.” But back to the Chagos story.
They added: “Decolonialisation has been used as a justification for this move by some on the left but this is false. Certainly, not all Chagossians wish their homeland to remain in British hands, but it seems that a majority do.
“They all have the right to British citizenship and recent months have seen a surge in arrivals of Chagossians to the UK. The Chagossian people are not Mauritian. They have a different history, faith and culture. Mauritius, for them, is just as much a colonial power as the UK. They were stabbed in the back, with forced deportation and no effective recompense, by a Labour government 55 years ago, and it appears may be about to receive a similar treatment.”
Last month, the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination said it had “deep concern” at the terms of the deal, because it would “perpetuate longstanding violations of the Chagossian people’s rights”.
The senior BIOT figure said it was “shocking” that Starmer, who has “for so long claimed to be on the side of human rights” was rushing through the deal.…
“None of this is necessary”, the figure said. “We could pull out, even at this stage and actually take the moral and even legal high ground.
They said: “Not ratifying this treaty will save the UK taxpayer a fortune; it will embed a more secure future for a critical western military outpost; and will ensure a future for an important marine protected area. But more important than this, it will support our indigenous Chagossian people and put us back on the moral high ground.”
The moral high ground, perhaps – but what about leading international lawyers who enjoy holidaying in Mauritius?
More from Yuan Yi Zhu in the Spectator:
This week, the government will try to push its draft deal to surrender the Chagos Islands through Parliament. There are many, many reasons why the deal is bad – from security, to the legitimate rights of the Chagossians, to the fact that the legal basis on which it is constructed is bunk. But there is another reason why the Chagos deal should be canned: it will be a catastrophe for the world’s environment.
Currently, the Chagos are protected by one of the world’s largest and strictest marine protected areas, in which all fishing is forbidden. An initiative of the last Labour government, the Marine Protected Area (MPA) has safeguarded one of the world’s most important natural environments, in which hundreds of animal and coral species exist away from human interference. This will be swept away under the deal, as I explain in my report for Policy Exchange.…
Mick Hartley 
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