Starmer and Lammy face Chagos Islands Commons vote before territory can be handed over to Mauritius
5 October 2024, 22:17
Sir Keir Starmer is set to be forced to hold a Commons vote on the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
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According to the Telegraph, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will have to pass an Act of Parliament to complete the handover of the archipelago.
The Foreign Office announced on Friday that the Indian Ocean that an agreement had been struck to give sovereignty over the islands to Mauritius.
Read More: Argentina vows to gain 'full sovereignty' of the Falklands following UK's return of Chagos Islands
The Government announced the agreement is supported by the US and means the status of the military base on Diego Garcia island will be undisputed and legally secure.
But the plans could come apart if Starmer sees a heavy rebellion in Parliament.
The deal to transfer the Indian Ocean archipelago's sovereignty to Mauritius will also allow people expelled by the British Government decades ago to return home.
Chagossians were removed from the island in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for the military base, in what Human Rights Watch described as "crimes against humanity".
The deal still allows the UK to retain the long-term future of a strategically important joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
Conservative frontrunner Robert Jenrick wrote in The Telegraph: “Labour’s decision places their ideology ahead of Britain’s national interests. It’s an act of extraordinary national self-harm.
“And they’ve snuck out their betrayal while Parliament isn’t sitting, to avoid scrutiny.”
