Starmer “Will Defy Trump” After US President Again Turns On Chagos Deal
Sir Keir Starmer will defy Donald Trump by pressing ahead with the handover of the Chagos Islands, a Minister has insisted, despite the US President turning on the deal once more and calling it a “big mistake”. The Telegraph has more.
The US President made a fresh attack on the Prime Minister’s deal on Wednesday, warning Sir Keir that he was making a “big mistake” by entering into a 100-year lease with Mauritius.
It is the latest in a series of about turns from Trump on the deal, which he previously called an act of “great stupidity” before giving it his approval earlier this month.
Ministers had previously suggested the deal would not proceed without US support. Last month, Sir Keir pulled his bill in the Lords after Trump’s first attack on the deal.
However, Alex Davies-Jones, the Victims Minister, insisted the Prime Minister would “deliver” on the deal and bring the legislation back to Parliament as soon as possible.
She told Times Radio: “We will continue to work with our allies, including the Americans, on this – but first and foremost the priority must be national security, and that is what this Government is determined to deliver.
“Just two weeks ago, they backed the deal, and this week the US backed the deal. Conversations will continue to be had with the Americans and other allies but, as I’ve said, the priority is our base and national security.”
Trump said Diego Garcia, the shared US base, was crucial for possible air strikes on Iran, which experts predict could take place within days despite peace talks.
The US President said it “may be necessary” for the US to use Diego Garcia to prevent a “potential attack” by Iran, which he suggested could also be on the UK and its allies.
Warning Sir Keir that he wanted to hand over the territory for “fictitious reasons”, Trump called on the Prime Minister to “remain strong in the face of wokeism”.
“DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!” he added.
The Government has repeatedly insisted that a handover deal with Mauritius – expected to cost the taxpayer £35 billion – is needed for security reasons and would avoid a costly legal battle over the territory.
Legislation on the Chagos deal was expected to be debated in the Lords last month. However, it was delayed with less than 72 hours’ notice after the Tories warned it may violate a 60-year-old treaty with the US that enshrines British sovereignty over the territory.
Challenged on when the Chagos Bill would return, Ms Davies-Jones said: “We will be bringing this Bill back as soon as parliamentary time allows, because this is about security, national security.”
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Starmer is refusing to allow Trump to use RAF bases for strikes on Iran over concerns the bombing would be unlawful and this reportedly led Trump to withdraw his support for the Chagos deal. So is it just another way of putting pressure on Starmer?
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We have a ‘Victims minister’? What the hell are they for?
Beat me to it. And another face palm job – the minister for steel. Given that failure to invest in the industry since the 1950s and the hammering of it with carbon taxes to sabe the polar bears means we barely have any, why on earth do we need such a minister, and very importantly does this mean they receive extra taxpayers money for this non-job?
We have a minister of defence who overseas the destruction of the armed forces, a minister of finance who oversees national bankruptcy, a minister of health who keeps waiting lists for basic care at over a year, a minister for trade and industry who destroys the economy, and a minister of education who supe4vises the innumeracy and illiteracy of the nations children, preparing the poor blighters for a lifetime of unemployment . A minister of energy security responsible blackouts and a minister of justice to ensure 2 tier justice and the destruction of court records.
So yes of course there’s a minister for steel, and no steel.
Why do you ask?
Brilliant post!
Classic doublethink.
Ministry of truth….
I was just about to post the same question.
W… T…. F….
Socialist, woke insanity has seeped so far into every part of our society that just when you think you have the measure of the problem, you discover there is a Victims Minister.
We are so completely and utterly screwed. I just don’t think there is anything left that is free from this rot.
Yes, I missed that one. She must be very busy because we are all ‘victims’ of this government. The pensioners are victims, the farmers are victims, the steelworkers are victims, as are the car workers, the oil and gas workers, the schoolchildren, the publicans, the small business owners, etc. etc. Please add to this list as you wish.
Very off-topic but I’m a bit surprised DS haven’t dropped this breaking news yet. It’s his 66th birthday today and everything;
”Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Police say King Charles’s brother is in custody and officers are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.
It comes after Thames Valley Police said they were assessing a complaint over the alleged sharing of confidential material by the former prince with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c70kjr9wjw0t
There has been nothing else on GB News this morning to exclusion of maybe more important news? It does warrant some discussion as to the effect it might have on the future of the monarchy which has probably never been under more pressure than it has now what with a not that popular king and his worryingly woke son who might see it off completely.
I’ve never liked Andrew, but I can’t help thinking he will now be thrown to the wolves in order to provide cover for much worse people.
Perhaps the DS is preparing a piece on why Peter Mandelson hasn’t been arrested.
My feelings exactly.
And it was almost the only item on BBC R4 World at One this afternoon. About 35 minutes out of 45.
The bigger point is surely that Madelson has NOT been arrested yet the evidence seems to me to be very similar against them both. Data from the USA in which the handliung of confidential or secret British Government info was disclosed to an international investor who was known to them to be close to very rich players in the markets.
“Costly legal battle”. Well Starmer and his ilk like those because it lines their pockets and gives them power. But I will give him some advice regarding how to avoid such costs. When summoned to answer a case by some “international court”, just tell them to piss off.
Hear, hear!
“Sir Keir Starmer will defy Donald Trump by pressing ahead with the handover of the Chagos Islands…”
For how long? When’s the next U-turn due?
Could somebody please explain to me the government’s logic when they say that handling over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will help Britain’s security?
I think that’s code for Starmer’s financial security in retirement.
I keep reading about u turns by POTUS/ the US Government but has anyone actually seen any categoric statement on the Chagos deal that shows them supporting it, or have we only seen statements from Matrix Chambers, sorry I of course meant the Government and Downing Street, saying the Americans are totally behind the deal.
So how will the government get around the UK/USA treaty that requires the UK to maintain ownership of the Chagos Islands, because presumably Trump isn’t going to agree to change it. Or is that one international treaty that 2tk will be willing to ignore if it interferes with his retirement plan?
It’s interesting how there appears to be a disconnect between the US State Department, which seems to have accepted Powell’s and the Foreign Office’s BS assurances wholesale, and the President, who recognises emperor’s new clothes when he sees them.
Swamp’s gotta swamp.
The extreme Leftist Feminist “Victims Minister” doesn’t care about the Chagossian Victims now threatened with fines and imprisonment for landing on their own island, which she is urging Stalin Starmer to give to China via their proxy Mauritius, and make British Taxpayers pay for it all. And while the US is saying they may need Diego Garcia if an Iran War breaks out, there are two more British Victims caught up in that: Lindsay & Craig Foreman, whose story provides a hard lesson to men not to let their wives persuade them to do stupid things, like go on a motorbike trip to Iran and interview the natives for the wifey’s research paper, despite Foreign Office warnings to all British Citizens not to go to Iran at all. Wifey PhD decided to give a phone interview to the BBC from the Iranian prison, and the Iranians responded only a few hours later by sentencing her and her hapless carpenter motorbike enthusiast husband to 10 years in prison for “spying” by talking to the natives. Their son says his father Craig has been held in the notorious Evin Prison in a cell with 50 other men, when all he did was… Read more »
Stalin collapses, he always does. He has previous