Some of the most senior names in American and British defence, politics, scholarship and national security have joined forces to denounce the Labour government's intention to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. They call the plan reckless, a source of instability and a strategic hazard, and they have made their objections loudly public.
Their verdict could scarcely be sharper. Retired generals and commanders have closed ranks behind President Trump, insisting that Keir Starmer's scheme to give away the British Chagos Islands to Mauritius amounts to a gravely misguided choice.
Their case is set out in a fiercely worded joint statement carrying upwards of 80 names. Each signatory pledged “strong support” for Donald Trump's verdict that the proposal represents “GREAT STUPIDITY,” warning that the Prime Minister could place one of the West's most essential military partnerships in jeopardy.
Diego Garcia is what makes the dispute so charged. A far-flung atoll within the Chagos group, it carries a sprawling American base that props up missions reaching from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific. Ownership and administration of the islands rest with the United Kingdom for now, yet London has been negotiating to pass sovereignty to Mauritius and then take Diego Garcia back on a 99-year lease.
Such a deal, the coalition contends, would bolt a hazardous new fault line onto the transatlantic alliance. As the proposed terms stand, Britain would pay out billions merely to keep its foothold, while a solitary missed instalment could nullify the lease and strip the American base of any firm legal standing.
A treaty clash and nuclear flashpoint
Mauritius's commitment to the Pelindaba Treaty, which marks out Africa as a nuclear-weapons-free zone, is another point the signatories press. Because Washington has long held to a policy of refusing either to confirm or to deny that nuclear arms sit at its foreign bases, they reason that handing over sovereignty would at once leave US operations open to courtroom challenges and orchestrated diplomatic pressure.
“The strategic consequences would be profound,” the statement cautions, pressing Washington to require that London restate the 1966 UK–US defence agreement that governs Diego Garcia and discard any outside arrangements liable to erode it.
Political firepower on both sides of the Atlantic
What stands out is how far the alliance reaches, pulling in retired admirals and generals, ex-Pentagon figures, legal academics and lawmakers both serving and former. On the British roster sit Nigel Farage, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former defence secretary Grant Shapps, the historian David Starkey and a clutch of peers from across the House of Lords. The American line-up brings together former National Security Council officials, top Navy and Marine Corps commanders, and defence strategists steeped in Indo-Pacific planning.
The organisers insist the size of the turnout was a deliberate choice.
“This is not a fringe protest or a fleeting political squall,” said one person involved in circulating the letter. “It is a gathering storm of experienced figures who believe the proposed deal would be a historic error, and one that could seriously damage U.S. UK relations.”
A warning to Downing Street
The timing bites for Starmer's government, with the intervention landing while negotiations with Mauritius drag on and the eyes of the world fix more closely on the issue. Inside the coalition, the critics frame it less as a humdrum territorial deal than as a searching trial of whether Britain remains a dependable partner to Washington in military terms.
Handing away sovereignty merely to lease back a base the West cannot manage without would, in their telling, sap Britain's leverage, hand encouragement to legal and diplomatic assaults on US deployments, and sow doubt across a region already gripped by sharpening contests between major powers.
Distilled into the slogan “Don't Surrender Diego Garcia,” the group's message is set to reach Trump formally in the days ahead, all but ensuring that Chagos becomes a live and possibly volatile strand of US–UK diplomacy.
Press on or change course, whatever Downing Street decides, the statement settles one matter beyond argument: resistance to the Chagos deal has outgrown the ranks of partisan detractors. It has solidified into a weighty transatlantic bloc, resolved to take on the British government directly over what it brands a strategic wager too risky to make.
The Statement
Don't Surrender Diego Garcia!
We strongly support President Donald J. Trump's position that the British government's proposal to give the Chagos islands to Mauritius is “GREAT STUPIDITY”.
In 1966 the United States and United Kingdom signed an “Exchange of notes constituting an agreement concerning the availability for defense purposes of the British Indian Ocean Territory” in preparation for the United States building major military infrastructure on Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean.
The Diego Garcia base is now one of the most important American bases outside the United States. That agreement is in effect until 2036 and states “The Territory shall remain under United Kingdom sovereignty.”
In spite of that, the British government is now trying to pass a proposed deal with Mauritius that would give Diego Garcia and the rest of the Chagos islands to Mauritius.
Under the proposed deal, the United Kingdom would give Mauritius the islands then pay billions of dollars over 99 years to rent Diego Garcia back from Mauritius. If the United Kingdom misses one payment, the lease can be terminated, leaving the American base illegally on Mauritian soil.
To make things worse, Mauritius has signed the Pelindaba Treaty, which prohibits nuclear weapons on its soil. Given U.S. policy to “neither confirm nor deny” the presence of nuclear weapons, as soon as Diego Garcia is transferred to Mauritius, the U.S. will be open to legal challenges.
We strongly support President Donald J. Trump's statement that the United Kingdom continuing with the proposed deal with Mauritius is an act of “GREAT STUPIDITY” and that it risks irrevocably damaging the special relationship between America and the UK.
The United States government must insist that the United Kingdom reaffirm the existing bilateral agreement between the two nations that currently governs “the availability for defense purposes” of Diego Garcia and repudiate agreements with other parties that would violate or otherwise imperil that accord.
The list of signatories spans American and British officers, officials, academics and politicians, among them:
- Thomas L. Conant — Lt. Gen., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), Former Deputy Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (2012–2014) — USA
- Jerry McAbee — Brig. Gen., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Mark Montgomery — Rear Adm., U.S. Navy (Ret.), Senior Director, Foundation for Defense of Democracies — USA
- James Fanell — Capt., U.S. Navy (Ret.), Geneva Centre for Security Policy — USA
- Grant Newsham — Col., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Raul (Pete) Pedrozo — Howard S. Levie Chair on the Law of Armed Conflict, U.S. Naval War College — USA
- Frank Gaffney — Former Assistant Secretary of Defense (Acting), Institute for the American Future — USA
- Arthur Waldron — Professor, University of Pennsylvania — USA
- June Teufel Dreyer — Professor of Political Science, University of Miami — USA
- Kerry K. Gershaneck — Professor, Author, U.S. Marine (Ret.), Global Risk Mitigation Foundation (GRMF), Honolulu, Hawaii — USA
- Victor H. Mair — Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania — USA
- Dede Laugesen — President, Save the Persecuted Christians — USA
- Rob Maness — Col., U.S. Air Force (Ret.), Veterans Leadership Fund — USA
- George Parker — Exec Director, Revealing Light Ministries — USA
- James Grundvig — Journalist — USA
- James Sturdevant II — Retired Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) intelligence officer (GG-14) / Analyst, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), U.S. European Command (EUCOM), U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) — USA
- Stuart Cvrk — Capt., U.S. Navy (Ret.), U.S. Navy — USA
- Geoffrey Wilson — Lt. Cmdr., U.S. Navy (Ret.), Fanell's Red Star Risen — USA
- Jim Newman — SCO SETA (Strategic Capabilities Office support contractor) / Capt., U.S. Navy (Ret.), Strategic Capabilities Office — USA
- Philip Lark — Col., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), Marshall Center — USA
- Donald Henry — Capt., U.S. Navy (Ret.) — USA
- David Rosenberg — Capt., U.S. Navy (Ret.) — USA
- Timothy Lyon — Capt., U.S. Navy Reserve (Ret.) — USA
- James R. Everett III — Capt., U.S. Navy (Ret.) — USA
- Markham B. Dossett — Cmdr., U.S. Navy Reserve (Ret.), President, TALON ASSET Management LLC — USA
- Robert Eldridge — President, The Eldridge Think Tank — USA
- Karen Siegemund — President, American Freedom Alliance — USA
- James Sturdevant II — Retired DIA counterintelligence officer / China–Taiwan–South Asia subject-matter expert, U.S. Government (Ret.) — USA
- Brian Kennedy — Chairman, Committee on the Present Danger: China — USA
- Bradley Thayer — Fellow, American Freedom Alliance — USA
- Chuck DeVore — Lt. Col., U.S. Army (Ret.) — USA
- Alexander Gray — Former Deputy Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff, White House National Security Council (2019–21) — USA
- Craig Ozaki — Retired U.S. Navy officer — USA
- Jorge Parrott — President, Christ's Mandate For Missions — USA
- The Honorable George Rasley — Editor, ConservativeHQ.com — USA
- Constance Elliott — Member, Committee on the Present Danger: China — USA
- John B. Atkinson — Col., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Wayne Morris — Col., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Peter Miller — Col., U.S. Marine Corps — USA
- Stephen Baird — Col., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Robert Barrow — Lt. Col., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Bill Treadwell — Master Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Citizen — USA
- Glenn Looney — Cmdr., U.S. Navy (Ret.), Constitutional Conservative — USA
- Daniel Billman — Cpl., U.S. Marine Corps — USA
- Jeffrey Nash — President, JNLD, Inc — USA
- Jane Stein — Owner, Janestein-Stage-Elements.com — USA
- Robert Rohrer — Cpl., U.S. Marine Corps — USA
- Lew Kennedy — Navy nuclear specialist (as listed), Veteran; Citizen — USA
- Lawrence McCarteny — Master Gunnery Sgt., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Steven Clayton — Capt., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Mark Johnson — Cmdr., U.S. Navy Reserve (Ret.) — USA
- Lawrence Peter — U.S. Navy (Ret.) — USA
- Richard Dunn — Col., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) — USA
- Rod Martin, Esq. — Chairman of the Board, Institute for the American Future — USA
- Tim Wilson — Lt. Col. (Retd.), British Army — USA
- Howard Hills — U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) (Ret.), Lead U.S. Counsel, Compact of Free Association (COFA) negotiations — USA
- Mark M. Drake — Capt., U.S. Navy (Ret.) — USA
- Brian Colfack — USA
- Bruce Byron — USA
- Paul Berkowitz — USA
- William Schroeder — USA
- Peter Brown — USA
- Peter Watson — USA
- Michael Champley — USA
- Rear Adm. Christopher John Parry, CBE (Retd) — Retired Rear Admiral, Royal Navy; Defence Analyst and Military Commentator — United Kingdom
- Sir Iain Duncan Smith — Former Leader of the United Kingdom Conservative Party; Conservative Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (Chingford & Woodford Green); Co-Chair, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) — United Kingdom
- Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Daniel Hannan) — Member of the United Kingdom House of Lords (Conservative peer); Writer, Columnist, and Founding President of the Institute for Free Trade — United Kingdom
- Nigel Farage — Leader of Reform United Kingdom (political party in the United Kingdom) — United Kingdom
- Lord Ashcroft, KCMG PC (Michael Ashcroft) — Businessman, Philanthropist, Author and Former Deputy Chairman/Treasurer of the United Kingdom Conservative Party; Founder & Chairman of Crimestoppers charity — United Kingdom
- Sir Bill Cash CH — Long-serving Conservative Member of the United Kingdom Parliament; Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee — United Kingdom
- Baroness Hoey of Lylehill and Rathlin — Crossbench Peer in the United Kingdom House of Lords (former Labour Member of Parliament) — United Kingdom
- The Earl of Leicester — Hereditary Peer in the United Kingdom House of Lords — United Kingdom
- Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee — Member of the United Kingdom House of Lords (Crossbench / formerly Conservative politics) — United Kingdom
- Lord Strathcarron — Member of the United Kingdom House of Lords — United Kingdom
- Andrew Wigmore — Political consultant and campaigner; former United Kingdom political adviser — United Kingdom
- The Rt Hon Sir Grant Shapps — Former United Kingdom Defence Secretary; Conservative Member of Parliament — United Kingdom
- Lord Cruddas of Shoreditch (Peter Cruddas) — Member of the United Kingdom House of Lords (Conservative peer); Founder & CEO of CMC Markets plc — United Kingdom
- Dr. David Starkey CBE — Historian and Broadcaster; Former Lecturer at United Kingdom universities; Author specialized in British history — United Kingdom
- Ben Habib — Leader of Advance United Kingdom (political party) — United Kingdom
- Dr. Nile Gardiner — Foreign Policy Expert and Former Aide to United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Director of a Washington-based think tank — United Kingdom