Judicial Review Launched into Chagos Surrender Deal – Guido Fawkes

The campaign to Save the Chagos is launching a judicial review today into Starmer’s surrender deal. Despite the sellout seemingly being based on a non-binding international court opinion, which cannot legally compel the UK to hand over its territory, Starmer and his cabal of left-wing lawyers are still trying to push it through. So far, most of the details of the ‘deal’ have been shrouded in secrecy, though now the Save the Chagos campaign is demanding answers…

A pre-action letter, brought by Lord Kempsell and co-host of the AngloFuturism Podcast Calum Drysdale, argues that:

• The government does not have the prerogative power to cede British territory to a foreign power on this basis.
• This is an unlawful expenditure.
• The invitation to Parliament to legislate on the “deal” is wrongful and based on an erroneous understanding of international law.

The campaign also points out how there’s no way of knowing the true feelings of many Chagossians, as those in Mauritius face criminal charges if they oppose the deal. Meanwhile, taxpayers are expected to foot the bill for this sellout, amounting to billions of pounds. Lord Kempsell said:

“The loss of British sovereign territory and the complete erasure of the Chagossians from the debate requires action—not words. That is why I am launching this judicial review, working jointly with many others who are outraged by this scandal. Hands off Chagos—spend the billions in the UK, don’t give it to Mauritius.”

Calum Drysdale also hit out at the government’s ‘betrayal’:

“The Chagos “deal” is a betrayal of the British public and Chagossian people. To justify this betrayal, Starmer’s government has pretended an international court is forcing them to do this – but he knows this isn’t true. The non-binding opinion of a judge in a foreign court certainly doesn’t require that the government may give away our lands without consulting the British public, that the government ignore the Chagossian people, give their islands to a state that makes it criminal for Chagossians to reject the deal, nor does it require the taxpayer to hand over huge sums of money to Mauritius to take the islands from us. The government is hiding, they are hoping the British public don’t take notice. Today, we are changing that – Starmer’s government must now try to justify this betrayal.”

The judicial review has gained the support of three other Tory peers. Lord Roberts said:

“These strategically vital islands have been British for over two hundred years; now the Starmer government wishes to give them away to an entity that has never once owned them in the past, and at great expense to the taxpayer. It is an unconscionable act. It is shocking, but not surprising.”

Lord Dobbs slammed the government’s ‘baffling’ refusal to reveal details, writing:

“From the start, this hugely important Chagos initiative has been shrouded in chaos, and the Government’s refusal to reveal details is baffling. I can’t understand why the Government seems to be hiding so much. This is vital to our national security; it should be dealt with on the basis of fact and law, not serving up evasion and Chinese fortune cookies.”

Lord Lilley also called for answers, saying:

“The UK is under no obligation to hand over the Chagos islands. Ministers supporting this initiative are either unaware that they do so without any legal necessity, or they do not want us to know that there is no legal reason to give up the Chagos islands. They must provide their reasons; they must let the public know.”

The government has to respond within 14 days of receiving the letter. Tick tock…