Over the past few months I have been trying to get my head around why the Labour Government is bent on not only giving the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but seemingly paying them to take them. The cost of ‘renting’ back the air bases seems extortionate, and it seems Keir Starmer hasn’t done his sums properly, but it is too late. The counter-claim by the native Chagosians has been ignored. The deal was on, and then off, and then on, and then off, and now apparently a done-deal.
Can anyone make sense of it all? Can anyone explain to me why we are doing it? Is there actually a rational reason, or is it as mad as it seems? If anyone can explain the issue in simple terms, I’d appreciate it.
Certainly, the government has failed to communicate in clear terms to the public why they are doing this. Perhaps they don’t feel they have to.
