Chagos Islands

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, the leader in the Times this morning says that this agreement is

“the worst negotiated by a British government in living memory”.

It goes on to say that the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General

“have taken leave of their senses”.

Current Labour Cabinet Ministers describe the deal in off-the-record quotes to the BBC as

“‘terrible’, ‘mad’ and ‘impossible to understand’”.

At a time when Labour Ministers seem to spend half their time at this Dispatch Box bemoaning the supposed black hole in the public finances, how does it make any sense whatever to spend up to £18 billion leasing back an island that we already own?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

I was an Opposition Front-Bench Spokesman for 12 years, so I know how this goes. I do not think I ever resorted to reading out a Times leader from the Dispatch Box as my primary source. Perhaps the kindest thing I could do is to invite the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, to come to the FCDO, to put the kettle on and to brief him properly so that he knows what is going on. I could point him in the direction of a communiqué issued by the Mauritian Government, which stated:

“Mauritius has never said that the financial package in the agreement between Mauritius and the UK on the Chagos Archipelago had doubled as alleged”.


I also point out that the cost of this is not for nothing; it is to buy a security arrangement that has served this country very well, alongside our allies, the United States, for very many years. It is a base and an arrangement that we are committed to. In order to secure the future of that base, we need to come to a legally sound agreement with Mauritius.