'Bad deal for British taxpayers!' Priti Patel RIPS into Labour for Chagos agreement

Priti Patel RIPS into Labour for Chagos deal
GB NEWS
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 02/04/2025

- 13:34

Downing Street confirmed that a deal is being "finalised" following approval from US President Donald Trump

Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel has raised an urgent question in the Commons regarding the government's plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The intervention comes after Downing Street confirmed that a deal is being "finalised" following approval from US President Donald Trump.


Patel expressed frustration at having to "haul" ministers back to the House to explain themselves just a day after oral questions.

She criticised the government for briefing about the agreement to "give away" the Chagos Islands without mentioning it in Parliament, despite ministers being "interrogated on this botched deal" the previous day.

Dame Priti Patel

Dame Priti Patel asked the urgent question in the Commons today

GB NEWS

The deal will see the UK relinquish sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory while paying to lease back the strategically important Diego Garcia military base, which is currently used by the United States.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary said: "How many billions of hard-pressed taxpayers' British money will be expected to fork out to lease back the territory we already own?

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"This, just as vulnerable pensioners are having their winter fuel payments ripped away, and family farms and businesses are being punished with new taxes, is because of this Labour government.

"What safeguards will be in place to protect the military base on Diego Garcia from other states who may try to establish a foothold on the archipelago?

"Ministers have so far refused to even publish a map of the buffer zone. What happens to the vitally important military base on Diego Garcia at the end of the treaty?

"What kind of sovereign rights, if any, will we be able to exercise over Diego Garcia in the meantime? The Prime Minister of Mauritius says he forced changes to exercise sovereign rights and get the lease extension arrangements changed.

"So will the Minister finally confirm that his account is correct? He cannot simply stand here and avoid these questions.

"The House does deserve answers. The British public, taxpayers, deserve answers. Put simply, Mr. Speaker, the British Indian Ocean Territory should remain British, but Labour has prioritized appeasing the whims of left-wing lawyers and activists, rather than standing up for our national interests. It's high time this deal was ditched."

Dame Patel described it as "a very bad deal for British taxpayers".

She accused the government of "appeasing the whims of left-wing lawyers and activists, rather than standing up for our national interests."

Chagos Islands

The Chagos Islands deal has been approved by Donald Trump

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The Prime Minister's spokesman confirmed: "We are now working with the Mauritian government to finalise the deal and sign the treaty."

The estimated cost of £90million annually to secure continued use of Diego Garcia has drawn criticism from opposition figures.

These payments are reportedly being "front-loaded to win the support of the Mauritian government."

The arrangement would allow Britain to maintain access to the strategically important military base while complying with international legal obligations.