Defence Secretary “Misled Parliament Over Chagos Deal”
The Defence Secretary, John Healey, has been accused by the Conservatives of misleading Parliament by saying Britain faced legal threats about the Chagos Islands when the international law he cited exempts military bases. The Telegraph has the story.
John Healey said in May that the Government faced a legal challenge “within weeks” if it did not agree to the handover to Mauritius of the islands, including the Diego Garcia military base.
He told MPs the “most potentially serious” threat came from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which handles maritime disputes. But the Government has now admitted there is an exception to United Nations maritime laws for “disputes concerning military activities”.
The Tories said this admission showed Labour’s legal arguments in favour of handing over the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius had “completely collapsed”.
James Cartlidge, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said: “When John Healey claimed that we were ‘weeks away’ from losing legal challenges, he will have known this was simply untrue.”
Sir Keir Starmer signed a handover deal with Mauritius last May. As part of the deal, Britain will rent back Diego Garcia at a cost of more than £30 billion for the next 99 years.
Announcing the handover last year, Healey told the Commons: “Without action – without this deal – within weeks we could face losing legal rulings, and within just a few years the base would become inoperable.
“Some have suggested simply ignoring international legal decisions, but this is not just about international law; this is about the direct impact of law on our ability to control and operate this base.”
When asked about the nature of the legal threats, he said: “There are a range of international legal challenges and rulings against us. The most proximate, and the most potentially serious, is the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.”
But the Foreign Office confirmed last week that it stood by Article 298 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which carves out an exemption for military bases.
According to Article 298, the exemption covers “disputes concerning military activities, including military activities by government vessels and aircraft engaged in non-commercial service”.
This is the second legal argument Labour has put forward in favour of acting to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands which has been undermined.
It emerged last year the UK could not be forced to surrender its secure communications channels on Diego Garcia, despite claims from Downing Street.
Worth reading in full.
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This is just staggering! Are all these people taking bribes from China or what?
Millions were transferred. China is a huge investor in Mauritius. All these worthies involved made millions.
See Open Borders, the Plandemic and GlobaloneyWarming for more info on the ‘thriving democracy’ we apparently live in.
Absolutely appalling. Looking at that photo, it’s hard to believe that such a man is now in charge of the British Armed Forces.
It’s time for the Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London to Open the Traitor’s Gate, in readiness for incoming…
It is looking more likely that China has something on or is rewarding those in our “Government”.
They’re members of a government of Britain but not of a British government and starmer should really be called governor¹ and not prime minister of the UK.
¹ In the British sense, that is, the head of a local administration acting on behalf of government located elsewhere.
Sadly true.
Good point. The Hidden Hand…
Or in charge of a prison?
I trust your question is rhetorical.
Well, it was an honest question, because I can scarcely believe it!
Makes the not-so-grand old Duke of York’s suspected misconduct in public office look like minor monkey business – a convenient distraction from state-sponsored treason.
Britain has been misconducted from public offices for decades.
Yes – Governments run by Malfeasants of The Crown led by a parade of Prime Malfeasants and supported by Malfeasants of Parliament.
I’m not excusing Randy Andy in any way but it’s a great distraction technique. I did hear on YouTube that he had agreed to be detained and that 7 police cars were unnecessarily sent for him anyway.
Yes, I wondered what they were expecting… a shoot-out at his Swamp House?
Or a Mass Attack by his Teddy Bears?
On the other hand, it was the first arrest of a royal since King Charles I in 1646, so it’s understandable that the police were taking no chances, in case of unexpected resistance.
The police always turn up en masse as they have nothing else to do since they no longer patrol to prevent crime.
So when will he be arrested on suspicion of misconduct in Public Office, questioned, home(s) searched, etc – or is that only for former Princes of the Royal Line?
Has anyone else noticed how quiet the investigation has gone into that other Prince, the Prince of Darkness?
One might think his mates in high places had manipulated Andrew’s misfortunes to monopolise the easily distracted media and public attention away from other goings-on which might implicate a few more than just Mandy.
Exactly right.
The claim that there would be something like international law which binds the UK is already misleading. Britain is a sovereign country and the only way to force the British government to do or not do anything is wage a successful war against the UK. Starmer & The Quislings are simply lying about this because they want to shirk responsibilty for their own political decisions.
But from what I read, Mauritius have never had any claims or anything to do with the Chagos Islands.
I wonder how much kick back Stermer is getting from the Chinese.
this government are starting to make the ex prince look like a saint!
When both Mauritius and Chagos Is. were British, the latter territory was administered from the former. But Mauritius has never owned the latter.
When independence was granted, they even received a payout from us to rescind any future claim.
Mauritius was never even a country as such
And in other news, that moron Johnson has said we should immediately put non-combat troops into Ukraine. What the hell does he think non-combat troops are? Catering, medical, engineers? All of these are capable of carrying weapons, none operate in isolation and require defence support. They will also need RAF transport support to deliver anything needed, that will need a secure, in theatre airbase, which will require RAF regiment troops and air defence. Non-combat troops do not exist and any overt deployment will further tweak the Russian bear’s tail, which Putin will not accept. Johnson is a warmonger who prevented peace negotiations before and now seems to intent on a global conflagration.
Nice to provide some more targets for Russian missiles.
The hollowing out of our country from the inside proceeds at pace.
It’s time perhaps to face up to facts, and start to get really angry.
We will beat these basrards but only once we start to fight.
What’s the law of the sea got to do with it? It’s a bloody island. So is Britain so do we have to give it back to the Romans? These crooked KCs think of a new law every time the last one is challenged.
There’s a reason laws are drafted shoddily, people like Jolyon can make a fortune ‘interpreting’ them…
Well the is well over 1000 miles of sea between Mauritius and Chagos.
If the Defence Secretary misled Parliament, then Parliament was lied to and the whole deal should be scrapped based on that alone.
International law. Lol.
Who was arguing the British case in both courts who have issued advisory decisions. If they had as much legal aptitude as certain key lawyers in our government then no wonder we got the outcome we did.
Is treason too strong a word?
The link between Mauritius and Chagos is tenuous to say the least.Once Britain acquired Mauritius from the French, who got it from the Dutch. Chagos (which is closer to India than to Mauritius) was administered by the British along with Mautitius as a convenience. I stress, it was an adminstrative decision, it was never part of Mauritius; it is 1250 miles away!
What assurances do we have that Mauritius will abide by the lease agreement. Just look what China did to us over Hong Kong. That was not legal according to international law but nobody did anything to sanction China over this infringement.
Thanks John. A lot more votes for Reform UK 🇬🇧
Yes the chagos deal…..another distraction from the ongoing destruction of the United Kingdom. Witnessing the complete breakdown of the Uk is painful to watch. No one in charge. Just more and more nonsense piled on.
There is a very very very large tail wagging the very very small head of the Labour Party dog. Who do these people and many more in the Labour Party have to bow to and ingratiate themselves with: Healey, Starmer, Reeves, Lammy etc? The extreme Far Left. To parody Anthony Charles Lynton Blair: “Infiltration, Infiltration, Infiltration“. The Labour Party has been over decades infiltrated from the ground up by the extreme Far Left. These are the people who pretend everyone else in the country is “Far Right” and that there is a credible Far Right movement in the UK when there isn’t. Want proof – here is one of gazillions of examples of the fake “Far Right” mantra: Trade union leaders back Together alliance march against the far right Thomas Foster Socialist Worker 21 Feb 2026 Remember Starmer – he constantly had to blame the “Far Right” for everything until he was repeatedly and constantly blaming at least 30 million ordinary people in the UK of being “Far Right“. Starmer was shut up when Downing Street was asked for the evidence of this “Far Right“. Starmer had to shut up and now we don’t seem to hear him blame the… Read more »
The first thing that come to mind when i see a headline like this. Is that person a fabian? I am not saying that he is, but given the recent decisions that have been made from the judges and other places. It does make one start to think.
Hearts and MindsWinning the Working-Class Vote
by John Healey and Fabian Society (Great Britain) Staff