The House of Lords has issued a rare rebuke of the Chagos Islands deal.
Peers passed a motion of regret that said the agreement “creates uncertainty” over the future use of the Diego Garcia military base and “imposes £35bn of costs” on taxpayers.
It also said the Chagossian people were not adequately consulted before the deal to hand the archipelago to Mauritius was struck.
The move by the Upper Chamber has sent a strong signal of dissatisfaction with Sir Keir Starmer’s agreement.
Peers across the political spectrum expressed opposition to the Chagos Bill. They included Baroness Hoey, the former Labour MP, who accused ministers of “hypocrisy” in their treatment of Chagossians.
She told the Lords: “This is not a party political issue. This is about giving away part of our country, British territory, and then paying Mauritius to take it. It’s very, very simple. We either believe in the rights of the Chagossians or we don’t. We either believe in self-determination or we don’t.”
Admiral Lord West of Spithead, a former Navy chief who was a Labour security minister, voted to disapprove of the deal formally along with Tory, crossbench, DUP and non-affiliated peers. The Liberal Democrats abstained.
The deal to hand over the islands means Britain will be paying billions to Mauritius to lease back Diego Garcia military base – AFP
The Bill did pass the third reading stage in the Lords, with the legislation returning to the Commons for MPs to vote on the Lords’ amendments.
The proposed changes included holding a referendum for Chagossians and the publication of costs paid to Mauritius for the deal. It comes days after peers voted in favour of renegotiating the deal.
Baroness Chapman condemned the Conservatives, who tabled the regret motion, for “wilfully ignoring the facts in order to score political points”, calling it “frankly shameful”. She said: “It puts at risk the UK’s national security for an unedifying and unconvincing political jab.”
The Foreign Office minister said the deal on the table did secure the long-term future of the Diego Garcia base, and without it its operations would be put in “jeopardy”.
She added: “This is the only viable route to any resettlement, which can now move forward under a Mauritian programme, and the Chagossians will be able to work on the island and to visit Diego Garcia, which is something they have not been able to do for a very long time.”
Sir Keir Starmer signed the deal in May, declaring that it was the only way to protect Diego Garcia from the influence of other countries such as China. But it has yet to be ratified by the Government, and has not been implemented into domestic law.
Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “The Government should listen to the chorus of voices in the House of Lords and across politics who are calling out this sell-out, and change course before it is too late. The Conservatives will continue to fight this surrender every step of the way.”
Lord Callanan, who tabled the motion, said the agreement was tantamount to a “betrayal” of the Chagossian people, who “have no desire to be handed over against their will to a hostile foreign power that has trampled over their rights and discriminated against them”.
The motion said: “This House regrets that the UK-Mauritius agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, does not secure the long-term future of the Diego Garcia Military Base, creates uncertainty over the continuing unrestricted use of the Military Base and imposes £35bn of costs on UK taxpayers for which the Government has no mandate, and that the Government failed to consult the Chagossian people before signing the treaty.”
