Mauritius ‘Has Other Islands It Could Give to China’ Aside From Chagos – Guido Fawkes

Philippe Sands: Mauritius ‘Has Other Islands It Could Give to China’ Aside From Chagos

Keir Starmer’s close friend and Mauritius’s chief legal adviser Philippe Sands was in the Lords yesterday giving evidence to the International Relations and Defence Committee to promote the Chagos surrender deal as “enhancing Britain’s position in the world.” He does have a client…

When questioned about concerns that Mauritius, which has close ties to China, might allow Beijing access to Diego Garcia, Sands urged the committee not to worry because it has plenty of other islands it could give them:

“The idea that this deal will make Diego Garcia available to a hostile third state – at least as things stand now – seems really to be in the realms of speculation. The idea that Mauritius could give these islands to China – Mauritius has many other islands it could give to China.”

Sands also rejected claims that Chagossians – who wanted the islands to remain British – had been excluded from the process:

“I can tell you that Chagossians in Mauritius and Seychelles were deeply involved in consulting with successive prime ministers of Mauritius and they attended the hearings at the International Court of Justice. I want to really knock on the head this idea that all of the Chagossians were not involved in the various processes. That is simply not true.”

That version of events has been strongly disputed by UK-based Chagossians – and contradicted by UN ‘experts’ just this week. All while Mauritius is using UK taxpayer cash from the agreement to fund domestic tax cuts. Cost of this sellout: £30.3 billion…