Government shelves handover of the British Indian Ocean Territory
Government shelves handover of the British Indian Ocean Territory
The Americans have effectively vetoed the attempted handover of the territory to Mauritius
This is wonderful news.
What is sad though is that it takes an American veto to stand up for British interests, rather than our own government. These are our islands, and have been since 1810. The joint British-American base on the islands makes it effectively an unsinkable aircraft carrier for us in the Indian Ocean, it is probably our most important strategic asset.
What now needs to happen is the natives Chagossians, who we removed from the islands in the 1970s but who want to stay British, are allowed to return to some of the outer islands and resettle them - and then hold a referendum confirming their desire to remain an overseas British territory.
Thank you President Trump and all the MPs, peers and campaigners who have fought to have this handover killed off.
