If ministers genuinely believed this deal was a bargain, they would have welcomed the questions. Instead, Labour's Overseas Territories Minister, Steve Doughty, spent a torrid session in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee today trying to justify handing control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius — the giveaway that we and other critics have rightly named the “Chagos surrender.”
Doughty began on the front foot, praising the Labour government for what he called an unusual show of openness, insisting the financial breakdown of the agreement had been published in a departure from normal practice.
“It’s not normal to provide the costings,” Doughty told MPs, “but in this case we have decided to, for the benefit of transparency… the government green book methodology has been used over all of this… it averages out at £101 million per year.”
That openness did not last long. Pressed on a straightforward follow-up — namely how the £30.3 billion bill would be divided between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) — the minister had nothing to offer.
“So there will be a share between the two departments,” Doughty stammered, “but I’m not able to give that at this stage.”
So much for transparency.
The contrast was not lost on those watching. Within seconds of congratulating himself on candour, Doughty was ducking the most basic question on how the money is shared — a snapshot of the wider evasion that has shadowed Labour’s whole approach to Chagos. Ministers want this dressed up as hard-headed geopolitics, but the numbers tell their own story.
Doughty then tried to wave the enormous price tag away with a bit of rhetorical footwork:
“Even if the MoD was paying the full amount here – which it isn’t – it’s just a fraction of 1% of the total annual defence budget… The value to us of this facility is… quite frankly priceless.”
Calling the deal “priceless” was an unfortunate choice of word, and critics pounced on it: billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are being committed with no public debate and no clear line of accountability. Plenty are asking whether genuine British strategic interests have been traded away for the sake of political appearances.
A Judicial Review is being prepared
We can confirm that sources close to the Great British PAC are preparing a Judicial Review to challenge the legality of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s signing of the deal. Legal experts are said to be examining whether constitutional or procedural rules were broken in a rushed agreement. The obvious question follows: will MPs really ratify this in Parliament if it is shown to be unlawful?
As the secrecy and the sheer scale of the deal come under ever closer examination, the suspicion grows that Labour’s grand performances on the world stage are covering for a troubling absence of due diligence back home.
Watch this space.