It was a noble intention when the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee announced last month that it would survey Chagossians about their views on the future of British Indian Ocean Territory. Chagossians in Britain have largely opposed Starmer’s eye-wateringly costly sell-out deal, that much is obvious…
The methods for the survey – which closed on Monday – were a little tricky in practice. Parliament issued a form for Chagossians to fill in which stated:
“We know that a short survey cannot capture the full diversity of the Chagossian experience, and not everyone in the community may be able to take part. Even so, your contribution will help the Committee and members of the House of Lords build a more informed picture of Chagossian perspectives. We are trying to reach as many people as possible by sharing the survey with Chagossian groups, using a contact list provided by the UK’s Foreign Office, and engaging with relevant media outlets. Please pass on the details of this survey to any Chagossians who you think may be interested in participating”
Reports emerged on X that many of the responses may have been subject to interference by the Mauritian authorities – surprise, surprise. Now multiple sources in Mauritius confirm that to Guido, saying Mauritian government officials have been seeing helping Chagossians fill out the survey – and indeed, in a number of cases, simply filling out the responses themselves. Some claim the survey has taken place under the supervision of the Mauritius Attorney General’s office. Many Chagossians in Mauritius are functionally illiterate, and although the UK Parliament provided the form in multiple languages, the, err, English version has been widely used…
The strength of opposition and anger there is in public towards Starmer’s deal from Chagossians has already been well established on the record. A survey is not needed to prove that…
UPDATE: Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel tells Guido:
“Any foreign influence by the Mauritian Government, a friend of China, to manipulate the results of this survey needs to be thoroughly investigated. This would amount to a foreign government interfering in our Parliamentary democracy. This is a shameful and crocked scandal created by Labour, which British taxpayers are funding.”
