Starmer surrenders the British Indian Ocean Territory - and pays £30bn+ to do so
Starmer surrenders the British Indian Ocean Territory - and pays £30bn+ to do so
Britain has handed a territory it has controlled since 1814 to Mauritius, a country that has never owned them, and has agreed to pay Mauritius £30bn+ for continued use of a military base there whilst cutting Winter Fuel Allowance for British pensioners
I could go into how bad this is for a multitude of reasons, but I will summarise as this: this is the worst foreign policy decision since the Iraq War. Yes, it really is that bad. For our reputation, the taxpayer and more importantly our security.
Essentially the government has decided to hand over islands which are ours, to a country that has never owned them and is 2,000 miles away. Even worse than that, we're paying them billions for the privilege of losing our own overseas territory, and have to pay a continued rent for 99 years that runs into the billions of pounds. The deal will also give Mauritius - a country in the pocket of China which has its eyes on the Indian Ocean - all sorts of vetoes on operations from the military base, which is one of the most important bases in the world.
I have nothing but a deep hatred for this Labour government. But even worse are the Conservatives and that two-faced b*stard James Cleverly MP who was the one who opened these surrender negotiations, who now pretend to have been against it all along. Lord Cameron (of whom I am no fan) at least blocked this madness when he served as Foreign Secretary.
The good news out of all this is that Reform have promised that if elected, they will repudiate this treaty and rip it up.
