Keir Starmer has refused to say whether he would sign away other British overseas territories such as Gibraltar and the Falklands after handing the Chagos Islands to China-ally Mauritius. The Telegraph has the story.
The archipelago was British-owned from 1814 but was signed away by the Government in a deal that it claimed would safeguard global security by ending a long-running dispute.
The islands include Diego Garcia, which hosts a strategically important U.S.-U.K. military base.
The Prime Minister was asked to guarantee that under Labour no other British overseas territories will be signed away.
He told reporters in response: “The single most important thing was ensuring that we had a secure base, the joint U.S.-U.K. base; hugely important to the U.S., hugely important to us.
“We’ve now secured that and that is why you saw such warm words from the U.S. yesterday.”
A spokesman for No10 told GB News: “Chagos does not change our policy or approach to other overseas territories.”
His remarks came just hours after Argentina pledged to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falkland Islands in the wake of the Chagos deal.
The country’s Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino, welcomed the step taken by Sir Keir’s Government on Thursday towards ending “outdated practices”.
She pledged “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands – the British territory that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own – are ceded to Buenos Aires.
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