Blame game breaks out over deal to cede Chagos Islands

Britain to hand sovereignty of archipelago back to Mauritius while keeping control of secretive Diego Garcia military base

- ARCHIE MITCHELL & DAVID MADDOX

An extraordinary blame game has erupted following Sir Keir Starmer’s shock decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, dragging in James Cleverly and Liz Truss.

The deal is meant to secure the future of a secretive military base on the island of Diego Garcia but it has left the UK without sovereign territorial control over a piece of land that is strategically important to Western security. The US-UK base will remain on Diego Garcia, but this latest development has led to fears that China could achieve its goal of setting up bases on the Chagos Islands.

The sudden announcement was rapidly followed by a furious tweet from Tory leadership contender James Cleverly calling the Labour government “weak, weak, weak”. However, it quickly emerged that the talks to hand over the islands were instigated by Mr Cleverly himself before being halted by his successor as foreign secretary David Cameron.

In a pointed tweet, his Tory leadership rival and former security minister Tom Tugendhat described the fact that the talks were opened under a Conservative government as “disgraceful”, though he did not namecheck Mr Cleverly. But Mr Cleverly’s camp has hit back with a briefing that blames former prime minister Liz Truss and suggests that the loss of the islands is part of the toxic legacy of her 49-day premiership.

A source close to Mr Cleverly said: “Ultimately, the direction is set by the prime minister on these matters. [Liz] Truss’s decision surprised many people. These included James Cleverly, who inherited responsibility for the talks when he became foreign secretary and had to make the announcement.” They noted that Mr Cleverly’s talks had followed discussions held by Ms Truss herself with the prime minister of Mauritius.