Priti Patel has forced Labour Ministers to attend Parliament to face scrutiny on their plans to surrender the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Priti Patel posted to X:
Today I forced Labour Ministers back to Parliament to face scrutiny over their secretive deal to surrender sovereignty of the Chagos islands and force British taxpayers to pay billions to the government of Mauritius for the privilege of doing so.
Labour’s inability to answer basic questions about the agreement they are negotiating is unacceptable and they have failed to give clear answers about how our critical strategic military base on Diego Garcia will be protected.
Ms Patel also posted a video of her speech in Parliament.
Priti Patel's speech
Is incredibly disappointing that only a day after oral questions yesterday, ministers have to be hauled back to the house to explain themselves as to what's going on. Because yesterday at lunchtime, Downing Street briefed out the agreement to give away the Chagos Islands and pay for the privilege is now being finalised between the UK and Mauritius, which was not set in this house yesterday. The prime minister of Mauritius has also issued a public statement confirming this. Despite being interrogated on this botched deal yesterday in these chambers, ministers gave no indication of this very significant and material development. And we are still completely in the dark about the fundamental questions of this enormous importance.
How many billions of of hard pressed taxpayers' British money will be expected to fork out to lease back the territory we already own? Just as vulnerable pensioners are having their winter fuel payments ripped away and family farms and businesses are being punished with new taxes because of this Labour government. What safeguards will be in place to protect the military base on Diego Garcia from other states, Mister Speaker, who may try and 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, Mister Speaker, the British Indian Ocean Territory should remain British, but Labour have prioritised, appeasing the whims of left wing lawyers and activists rather than standing up for our national interest. It's high time this deal was ditched. And finally, Mister Speaker, there have been reports of implied military threats to the Chagos Islands. They may laugh over this issue, but it's fundamental to the security of our country, a British sovereign territory from the regime in Tehran.
Tehran, the Iranian regime has threatened this base and the important military threats that that they are now purporting. We understand in response to reports of an unusual buildup of American bomber aircraft and equipment, Mister Speaker, carrying aircraft at the joint UK military base on Diego Garcia. This is very serious. Clearly, we need to take these threats seriously, and we welcome clarity on what the foreign office is doing on the diplomatic response on this issue.
https://twitter.com/pritipatel/status/1907493506244898977
