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Stephen Doughty, a Foreign Office minister, has suggested that that the Chagos Islands sovereignty deal is necessary to prevent a “serious confrontation” with China over the UK/US military base at Diego Garcia.
He made the argument in an article in the Times in which he is more explicit than ministers have been before about what the government sees as the risks of not finalising the deal.
Claims that we negotiated this deal solely because of the 2019 ICJ advisory opinion are simply wrong. This was not the only challenge we faced — without a deal Mauritius would inevitably pursue a legally binding judgment. “Provisional measures”, themselves legally binding, could be introduced within weeks, affecting our ability to patrol the Chagos archipelago waters.
It would erode our ability to operate key frequencies — vital for our own communication and to counter hostile states — and affect everything from overflight clearances to securing contractors with consequential rocketing costs, declining investment and a degraded facility.
[Under the deal] we will retain full control over Diego Garcia with robust provisions to keep adversaries out. These include unrestricted access to and use of the base for the UK and US; a buffer zone around Diego Garcia; a comprehensive mechanism to ensure no activity in the other islands threatens base operations; and a ban on the presence of any foreign security forces.
A financial element over the 99 years was crucial to protect the operation of such a vital base. If we don’t pay, someone else will. Our adversaries would jump at the chance to establish outposts on the outer islands. With a guise of legality on their side, we would have no basis to remove them and efforts to do so could spark a serious confrontation.
Keir Starmer, as well as devolved leaders from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have been invited the event, it is believed.
While there are reports that a number of the leaders will stay in Windsor, it is expected that Northern Ireland first minister Michelle O’Neill has decided to not spend the night at the royal residence.
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/feb/12/pmqs-starmer-badenoch-small-boat-arrivals-citizenship-blocked-uk-politics-live-news
Author : Andrew Sparrow
Publish date : 2025-02-12 11:04:00
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