The incoming Trump administration damn well won’t support us giving up Chagos, says Nigel Farage

It’s the subject that won’t go away. It is the giving away of the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

This came as an absolute bolt from the blue. Nobody expected it. The government say they have to do this because the International Criminal Court has said the islands ought to go to Mauritius.

But Mauritius has never had sovereignty over the Chagos islands at any point in history, and it was only an advisory ruling. So the arguments go back and forth.

The government keeps telling us that the American administration are fully in favour of this deal, because the 99 year lease on Diego Garcia, an essential military base. is something the Americans are happy with.

Two days ago, I was in a very full Mar-a-Lago. Let me tell you, every single American official I spoke to was deeply worried about this.

Just think about it; we had a 50 year deal with China over Hong Kong that they would maintain their democratic independence and that’s disappeared already.

But no, the government insists that the Americans support it. I know damn well the incoming Trump one won’t.

But the one thing that really interesting is the government say, ‘Ah, but don’t worry, the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and the sovereignty of Gibraltar are not under threat, because it’s for the people that live in the Falklands and on the Rock of Gibraltar, it’s for them to decide their fate.’

So I put this suggestion to the House of Commons earlier today.

The idea that the Chagossians have been consulted at all is for the birds. Many of them still live in Crawley, right next to the airport at Gatwick because they actually want to go back to the islands. But in previous times they’ve been treated pretty badly by the Mauritians mostly on the grounds of race.”