Keir Starmer should reconsider Chagos Islands deal | Andrew Marr | The New Statesman

[@ecknareal]

We paid them £3 million for the island a long time back. They say the sale was under duress. Fine, so we give it back and they give us back the £3 million + what ever interest. Why would be be paying them to take the island we bought?

[@marumaru6084]

You know Mauritius never owned it right.

[@lp1485le]

Supposedly it's unpaid rent of the islands and totalling 9 billion...

[@marumaru6084]

@@lp1485le No they just asked for more and Labour agreed.

[@aleaiactaest8354]

Lets not whine over 3 million...

[@fablewalls]

@@marumaru6084 Sorry mate, when WE controlled Mauritius at the time, the Chagos Islands were seen as part of Mauritius. After WE concocted the inhumane removal of people from their homes, we created BIOT as the pretext. I know facts were unpopular from 2016 onwards in the US and UK but everywhere else still tends to use facts.

[@Faust-NOW]

You know Labour’s agreeing a bad deal when Andrew Marr is against it. This is what happens when Britain has “rule by lawyers”. This is totally incomprehensible and totally unacceptable. Anyone with an ounce of strategic sense would realise how foolish this agreement is.

[@hosephanerothe1440]

👌🏻

[@andybrice2711]

It also makes a nonsense of the claim that the government has no choice but to make difficult cuts such as the Winter Fuel Allowance. There seems to be plenty of cash available for all their pet projects around the world.

[@visitforthemusic]

I am no supporter of this Government, but you cannot compare spending on one-off items with recurring spending like the winter fuel allowance. I agree that there is more than enough money to cover the winter fuel allowance, it was a purely political choice, and a bad one at that.

[@evildude951]

So I suppose we should now give up any pretense that we aren't at best a client state at worst a colony of the US if we're letting agreements to comply with international law be scuppered by a new US government

[@lewis123417]

The UN also said we should give up the Falklands 😂 they don't have any moral authority. How is it right to give away a territory to a country that never owned it and allies itself with backward regimes 😂😂

[@miguel5785]

European and other small and mid-size powers will have a very hard time ahead without international law. At some time we should commit to law in international relations if we want to demand others do the same.

[@lewis123417]

The UN also said we should give up the Falklands 😂 they don't have any moral authority. How is it right to give away a territory to a country that never owned it and allies itself with backward regimes 😂😂

[@Pastaface]

So the benefit is compliance?. Not a great one - given who makes the laws.

[@lewis123417]

@@miguel5785 we should commit to following the directives of the most corrupt international organisations on the planet? The UN has no credibility or moral authority to tell democratically elected government's what they can and can't do

[@miguel5785]

@@Pastaface International law is treaties, custom, general principles of law, etc. It's not made by any single actor.

[@Pastaface]

Yes. I am asking for the benefits to be identified. History will attest to something "being the law" does not always make it good.

[@moonman62]

I don't like our foreign policy being determined by the US but giving Mauritius £9 Billion and the islands when their claim is a bit flimsy is a terrible idea.

[@leeii337]

Wasnt this deal brokered by the Tories?

[@lewis123417]

Since when was its labours job to simply wave through bad tory policy 😂😂😂😂😂 they were quick enough to stop the free speech Bill for universities, but they won't stop an illogical handover of territory 😂 bad excuse

[@reinholdmueller4882]

On 3 November 2022, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that the UK and Mauritius had decided to begin negotiations on sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, considering the recent international legal proceedings. Both states had agreed to ensure the continued operation of the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia.

[@lewis123417]

Lol so do labour just wave through bad tory policies now? 😂😂😂 labour were quite happy stopping the free speech Bill for universities but they won't stop this clearly misguided handover of territory? 😂

[@Pastaface]

The negotiations were ceased as disposal deemed an unacceptable security risk.

[@ChristopherFynn001]

When were the Chagos islands first permanently settled, and by whom?

[@michaelg3855]

You have to have sympathy for Marr and Cunliffe: they can't decide whether to use the Imperialist argument, the UK as a loyal underling of the USA argument, or their faux concern for the Chagos Islands natives argument. Either way, the New Statesman's role as a safety-valve for the British Establishment is fulfilled.

[@papi8659]

Spot on my friend

[@papi8659]

Andrew is just beyond pompous - no wonder these people don't understand Trump's landslide

[@noneofyoubusiness4895]

Suspicious of Mauritious

[@fablewalls]

Why?

[@flunkyminion]

Get used to life under the orange thumb.

[@Pastaface]

Can anyone list any benefits to the UK of disposing of Chagos Islands? The downsides seem significant and self-evident.

[@abritishguy2243]

The deal essentially signed away most of the islands except one, the largest, and the one with the military base on it. This one we get to keep and the US gets to keep running their military base. In other words we ere giving away the islands that did not have any strategic value and keeping the only one that did. This made sense, which is why both the Brits and the Americans were happy to agree to the deal. The sticking point on Britain's end is the money they would pay to Mauritius.

[@miguel5785]

Being governed by law is in everyone's interest in the long term.

[@GordonTaylorThomas]

It's just Labour feeding their precious little consciences at everyone else's expense.

[@Pastaface]

@@miguel5785 A dubious benefit as our fates then depend on the agenda of the lawyers of the day. Some say International Law is merely the controlling hand of the Globalists.

[@Pastaface]

@ A dubious benefit - unless you agree with the Globalist agenda of International lawyers.

[@4adiarmuid]

why dont we set them up as an indenpendent sovereign state with the chagossians in charge but with the miltary base being there in perpetuity and a sovereign fund to reclaim ground for the chagossians to use for housing and agriculture - the problem is its going to be underwater with global warming

[@rp1692]

Why should the military base be there in perpetuity? What right do we have to expect, demand or require that of a sovereign state?

[@lewis123417]

The UN said the same about the Falklands, why would we pay any attention to them 😂

[@tomjones7593]

Whoever struck this prospective 'deal' with Mauritius should be sacked-immediately, and with loss of pension; sadly, no such remedy is available for the spineless PM who tried to push it through (on the basis that he thought Harris would win ?)

[@calumbishop7082]

The concept of 'Realpolitik' also know 'realistic politics' or 'political realism' as its often referred to, gets a lot of flak (largely because normally it involves democracies having to work with say, Saudi Arabia due to oil related reasons despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is the very antithesis of a democracy). But there are moments where following 'Realpolitik' makes sense. The Chagos Islands situation is one of those moments. I understand that Kier Starmer wants to present his government as a follower of a rules based international order, in stark contrast to the previous Johnson and Sunak premierships which often ignored international law to the annoyance of our allies. But giving away territory with a major military base located, to an ally of Xi Jinping's China as well as paying taxpayer money to that nation, when the taxpayers would prefer that money be spent on public services, and the fact that a large chunk of people in the UK both left-wing and right-wing are against this decision. This deal is completely unrealistic and borders on sheer lunacy.

[@lewis123417]

The UN also said we should give up the Falklands 😂 they don't have any moral authority. How is it right to give away a territory to a country that never owned it and allies itself with backward regimes 😂😂

[@nicksimmons7234]

More journalists that think it’s better to do the wrong thing, because this is easier politics wise.

[@lewis123417]

How is not giving up an island of massive strategic importance to a country that never owned the islands, a country that allies with the most backward regimes on earth the "wrong thing"

[@ravindra7791]

I didn't understand the 9 billion part. Who is giving it to whom

[@radicalrodriguez5912]

the British to the Mauritians

[@ravindra7791]

@radicalrodriguez5912 But why...why that number and how will it be used. Seems huge. Suspicious for sure.

[@johnp7468]

I don't know how the amount is reached. We should pay it, however. We forcibly removed the Chagossians from their homeland in the 1960s. Some may want to return to the Islands and the agreement with Mauritius allows this. Reestablishing a community on the Islands will require investment. The money is quite simply what we owe for our bad behaviour in the 1960s. This agreement and the money are necessary to put right an appalling human rights abuse committed by the British in the 1960s.

[@radicalrodriguez5912]

@ it's being paid to Mauritius, not Chagossians

[@4adiarmuid]

dont give into trump demands - we need to make our own way - starmer should ask for some of the US states back - indeed some may want to rejoin the uk - chicago/illinois for a start

[@lewis123417]

The UN also said we should give up the Falklands 😂 they don't have any moral authority. How is it right to give away a territory to a country that never owned it and allies itself with backward regimes 😂😂

[@g.p616]

These left wing ideological journalists are really entertaining to listen to as they try and square their ideology with reality!!

[@stuartbudd5026]

If Andrew Marr doesn't like the UK's loss of international influence over Chagos Islands then he should not have voted for Brexit. The UK lost the U.N. General Assembly vote over the Chagos Islands on 23rd June 2017 after EU members abstained.

[@rp1692]

I wasn't aware Marr had voted for Brexit, if indeed that is the case (when did he say that?).

[@tamrielspirit3285]

But the tories began the sale

[@evolassunglasses4673]

Started negotiations didn't close the deal

[@Pastaface]

@@evolassunglasses4673 they abandoned the disposal as it was deemed too greater security risk

[@reinholdmueller4882]

@@evolassunglasses4673 Why start a negotiation if one doesn't want to close a deal? Labour only continued negotiations but didn't close the deal. Your comment doesn't make sense.

[@lewis123417]

Since when was its labours job to simply wave through bad tory policy 😂😂😂😂😂 they were quick enough to stop the free speech Bill for universities but they won't stop an illogical handover od territory 😂 bad excuse

[@reinholdmueller4882]

@@lewis123417 Nonsense, British law is different from international law. Also, if the handover was illogical, why blame Labour, but not Tories? Weren't both governments let down by the Americans?

[@davidglenn4863]

Once again starmer shows what an idiot he is. He is no politician only a lefty woke lawyer!

[@Pastaface]

The problem in a nut shell. All Starmer wants is pats on the back from other International Lawyers and their WEF masters.

[@beast4517]

You clowns wanted this pantomime

[@psiphon2808]

Hello thicko central! The deal was arranged by the Tories, Labour are simply completing what was agreed. Also the Islands became British back in 1815, it's time to give them back to the rightful owners.

[@B1_66ER]

The French?

[@psiphon2808]

@B1_66ER The French had the Islands before us what's your point?

[@B1_66ER]

@@psiphon2808 I just curious to confirm if you meant the French.

[@lewis123417]

Since when was its labours job to simply wave through bad tory policy 😂😂😂😂😂 they were quick enough to stop the free speech Bill for universities but they won't stop an illogical handover od territory 😂 bad excuse

[@lewis123417]

The Mauritius has never owned the islands. Why would it be given to them? 😂

[@Quareat]

Spend 9 billion on defence instead. That is the world we live in now.

[@t1mmytiger]

The UN has lost its teeth. That £9 billion could contribute to many positive funding deficits in the uk, not least Policing.

[@davidmorris3981]

The next Labour own goal will be when they don't stop the Elgin Marbles from being sent to Greece.

[@leeyoung9469]

What were the Labour Party doing during their time in opposition? They’ve been so incompetent since coming into power.

[@4adiarmuid]

not as imcompetent as the tories in power and now in there non-opposition

[@ranar1036]

The deal is done. The islands belonged to the current Owner and have now properly been returned, full stop!

[@lewis123417]

What? 😂

[@lewis123417]

The Mauritius never owned the chagos islands

[@aleaiactaest8354]

Think Elon is interested!

[@faisafarrah9043]

TRAITOR Marr

[@lewis123417]

The UN also said we should give up the Falklands 😂 they don't have any moral authority. How is it right to give away a territory to a country that never owned it and allies itself with backward regimes 😂😂 how is he a traitor? 😂

[@lewis123417]

Giving up territory to countries who have never owned them and allie to backward regimes like China is traitorous

[@lewis123417]

With a name like "faisa farrah" i imagine you support any policy that's anti western

[@SwatantraNandanwar]

NO! Andrew is wrong. Dont kowtow to the Trump Administration. Carry on the handover and pass Chagos on to Mauritus. If Trump wants Chagos let him buy the base from Mauritus for a hefty sum. We need to close down the legacies of colonialism. Its an International Legal issue.

[@hosephanerothe1440]

Grow up, life is unfair

[@regarded9702]

Nothing more pathetic than hating your own country.

[@evolassunglasses4673]

Imagine selling out your own country. People like you have destroyed the West

[@evolassunglasses4673]

We are part of an Empire just like Russia and China are. You can never ever stop Imperialism.

[@jmiller7209]

"International law" won't stop Chinese warships

[@66556086]

Woke Britannia