Last week, the PM signed a long-dreaded treaty that officially hands control of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius. He effectively ceded a strategically vital territory that is of interest to China. Making matters worse, once the treaty is ratified by MPs, the UK will pay Mauritius £101 million a year for the next 99 years to rent back a key UK-US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
“This lousy deal essentially amounts to a massive gift from British taxpayers to the Mauritian government,” said Andrew Tettenborn in The Spectator. So why sign it? The answer, I’m afraid, “is legalism”: the UN’s top court had issued a non-binding ruling calling on the UK to give up control of Chagos – and the PM, ever the lawyer, eagerly bowed to international law. Perhaps he was hoping to set a “shining example” to other countries; instead, they will “regard us with contempt for being a pushover”.
The deal is a complete surrender to China. It’s embarrassing for the UK to have Starmer in charge.
Perhaps he was trying to stick it to Donald Trump.
The Wrath of Trump
President Trump reacted with fury to the deal, and many wondered if Starmer was working on behalf of China at this point.
The legislation, which was set to be debated in the House of Lords on Monday, has now been delayed, amid warnings it could breach a treaty with the US that asserts the UK’s sovereignty over the archipelago.
The conversation was highlighted by Nigel Farage in an interview on GB News and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Farage asked Johnson why Trump wasn’t up in arms over the giveaway.
“I don’t know that the president has spoken directly to the issue or as forcefully enough to your point, but I would assume he shares the same concern as you and I do about that,” Mr Johnson replied.
It was obvious that Johnson called President Trump because Trump then blew up.
Diego Garcia, which is on Chagos, is the most important military base in the world. For some bizarre reason, the UK decided to follow the UN’s advice. There is no protection for Diego Garcia.
Starmer’s insane act reminds me of when fellow leftist Jimmuh (peanut brain) Carter and US Senate Democrats ceded the Canal Zone to Panama (and eventually) to China. This was after America spent nearly a decade, a huge number of dollars and many lives building the Canal and locks. Why are leftists so lacking in common sense?