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Concerns have been raised over the future of the Falkland Islands after the UK gave up control of a remote archipelago – a move which has since been dubbed a “strategic disaster”.
The government on Thursday said it had reached a political agreement with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands following negotiations which began in 2022.
The deal is meant to secure the future of a secretive military base on the island of Diego Garcia, but it has left the UK without sovereign territorial control over a piece of land that is crucial to Western security in the Indian Ocean.
The US-UK base will remain on the island, but the agreement has sparked fears that China could achieve its goal of setting up bases on the Chagos Islands, as well as compromising UK control over the Falklands.
Former Armed Forces minister Mark Francois said the deal is a “strategic disaster” for the UK and our US allies, tellingThe Independent: “Not only does it threaten an eventual Chinese veto over the future of the key base on Diego Garcia, it will only embolden nations like Argentina to press for control of the Falklands.”
“It’s absolute madness”, he added.
This came after Argentina vowed to gain “full sovereignty” of the British-controlled archipelago in the wake of the Chagos deal.
Former cabinet minister Simon Clarke agreed the deal could threaten the legitimacy of the Falklands, warning: “The world is increasingly dangerous. This decision perfectly encapsulates our naive believe in ‘soft power’ over the hard reality that history is not finished with us, even if the Labour government appears to want to be finished with history.”
“As the late twentieth century world order begins to break down around us, a serious government would never surrender sovereignty over a critical strategic asset on the basis of such a flimsy claim.
“This decision not only compromises a vital base that is of huge value to our American allies, it also strikes at the heart of our ability to defend our continued control of other sovereign bases from Gibraltar to Cyprus, and indeed the legitimacy of our overseas territories like the Falklands”, he told The Independent.
Tory MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the decision to hand back the archipelago is “completely wrong”, explaining: “It will cause great unease in our people in our overseas territories including Falklands and Gibraltar.
“We will all regret this if the Mauritians do a deal with China which would threaten our hugely strategic base in the British Ocean Territory as it is known.”
Three of the four Tory leadership contenders have also weighed in on the issue, taking aim at the Labour government’s deal.
Conservative former minister and frontrunner in the race to succeed Rishi Sunak, Robert Jenrick, said: “It’s taken three months for Starmer to surrender Britain’s strategic interests.”
Former foreign secretary James Cleverly described the move as “weak, weak, weak” while former security minister Tom Tugendhat suggested it risked allowing China to gain a military foothold in the Indian Ocean.
However, Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff for Tony Blair and special envoy for negotiations between the UK and Mauritius, told Times Radio we shouldn’t be “too worried” about losing the Chagos Islands as they are “very tiny islands” and “we’re probably losing more to tidal erosion in the East Coast.”
He also said the US has been “intimately involved in the negotiations”, saying US officials were “very pleased with the agreement”.
Mr Powell dismissed concerns over China, saying: “It could hardly be further from the truth.”
“Mauritius is one of only two countries in Africa that’s not a member of China’s Belt and Road (Initiative). So this notion that we’ve somehow given the Chagos Islands to an ally of China is rubbish, and anyway the negotiations were started by the previous Tory government”, he added.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer pointed out US support for the deal, telling journalists: “The single most important thing was ensuring that we had a secure base, the joint US-UK base; hugely important to the US, hugely important to us.
“We’ve now secured that and that is why you saw such warm words from the US yesterday.”
This came after Joe Biden welcomed the “historic agreement”, saying it was a “clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes”.
In a statement on Thursday, Falklands governor Alison Blake sought to reassure residents that Britain’s commitment to the South Atlantic territory was “unwavering”, saying the historical context of the two territories were “very different”.
But Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, has promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands are handed to Buenos Aires, welcoming the step taken by the UK government on Thursday towards ending “outdated practices” after Britain returned the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the military base as part of a series of expulsions which are regarded as one of the most shameful parts of Britain’s modern colonial history.
The International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest court, previously ruled the UK’s administration of the territory was “unlawful” and must end.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment.