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”.
Read Full Article: https://www.independentsentinel.com/the-wrath-of-trump-starmer-backs-off-surrender-of-chagos/
