Labour ministers are urged to come back clear over how a lot Britain pays Mauritius to proceed utilizing Chagos Islands army base
Fresh fury erupted over the Chagos Islands surrender last night after ministers admitted they plan to keep secret the true costs unless forced to reveal them.
Foreign Office minister Baroness Chapman told peers that the Government will not make public the amount of money Britain will pay Mauritius ‘unless compelled to by Parliament’.
She also claimed that publishing the figures would ‘undermine the security’ of the crucial Anglo-American military base that will continue to be operated under the controversial deal.
Last night Tory peer Lord Kempsell told the Mail: ‘The British taxpayers who are footing the bill for this bad deal are entitled to know just how much they are paying for it.
‘It should not be necessary to have to force the information out in Parliament.
The Government should publish it as soon as possible, obviously remaining within any security constraints, and come clean on exactly how much money they have agreed to hand over.’
The Labour government made the shock announcement in October that it was going to hand sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago – a British overseas territory for more than 200 years – to China ally Mauritius.
Fresh fury erupted over the Chagos Islands surrender last night after ministers admitted they plan to keep secret the true costs unless forced to reveal them. Pictured: The Chagos Islands
Foreign Office minister Baroness Chapman told peers that the Government will not make public the amount of money Britain will pay Mauritius ‘unless compelled to by Parliament’
Opponents of the handover are hopeful that Donald Trump will force Labour to scrap the deal when he returns to the White House, as several key figures in his team have warned that it poses a national security risk to the US
As part of the arrangement, the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia will remain operational for at least 99 years.
But despite outrage over the agreement, ministers have repeatedly refused to say how much money will change hands.
In a recent Parliamentary written question, Boris Johnson’s spokesman Lord Kempsell asked what the annual leasing cost will be for the military base as well as how much financial support the UK will give to Mauritius.
But Lady Chapman, Foreign Office minister in the Lords, refused to say.
She replied: ‘The agreement is subject to the finalisation of a treaty which the Government intends to complete over the coming months.
Further details will remain confidential until the final version of the Treaty has been signed by both sides.’
Details of financial arrangements are held in the confidential exchange of letters that accompanies the draft treaty, which we do not plan to make public unless compelled to by parliament in due course.
‘While we continue to finalise the treaty, making these figures public would put into question our reliability as a negotiating partner and undermine the security of the base.’
Opponents of the handover are hopeful that Donald Trump will force Labour to scrap the deal when he returns to the White House, as several key figures in his team have warned that it poses a national security risk to the US.
A UK Government spokesman said: ‘It is not normal practice for the UK to reveal the value of its payments for military bases anywhere across the globe. To do so could put at risk their future secure operation.
‘Whilst the annual ‘operating costs’ of some bases and training areas may be available, this is different to the value of payments for military bases – which it remains not normal practice to release.
‘We will be finalising the details and legal text of the Chagos Islands treaty, and we will be coming forward for parliamentary scrutiny as part of the ratification process. Further details will be set out at that stage.’
