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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that the Chagos deal is incredibly stupid and harmful?

96 replies

Sausagenbacon · 22/05/2025 18:18

Let's hand millions over to Mauritius (which never had a legal right to the islands).
I honestly think that Starmer is stupid not to see how the optics of this play out.

OP posts:
Zebedee999 · 23/05/2025 12:37

Kugelblitz · 23/05/2025 12:34

How many did the Tories kill ? At least labour are reconsidering the WFA which should still be means tested btw.

I don't know, can you advise, I'd be interested? The point being Labour deliberately chose to vote for a WFA cut they knew would kill 4000.

Likewise they created a dodgy dossier to kill 500,000 (sadly I voted for them back then so am partly guilty, but have learnt my lesson, but they are sti;ll at it killing people on purpose and by their own numbers. Why do people still vote for them with that record?)

Kugelblitz · 23/05/2025 12:34

Zebedee999 · 23/05/2025 11:38

The Tories started the negotiations then didn't proceed with the batsht bonkers deal. Starmer did proceed however!
I think you will see many more of these threads as everything Labour do is bonkers to most people. I mean they voted to kill 4000 pensioners (their own numbers), put up taxes on businesses to lose jobs, now this bonkers deal. Yes expect many more such threads as just when you think this lot couldn't get worse they do.

How many did the Tories kill ? At least labour are reconsidering the WFA which should still be means tested btw.

Kugelblitz · 23/05/2025 12:33

Sausagenbacon · 23/05/2025 09:15

So you don't think it's politically naive?
(Try and answer without bringing up Farage or any other popular hate figures).
And how effective were the UN in any recent conflict? Answer, not at all. They're a paper tiger.

Well Starmer rightly or wrongly is even more of a popular hate figure. Nige more of a hero to many, rightly or wrongly. Why create yet another uninformed thread designed to stir things up ?

FortyElephants · 23/05/2025 11:42

EasternStandard · 23/05/2025 11:26

Why don’t the people of Chagos get a say on their own status?

If it’s not wanted then surely they should have a voice in this.

Because colonialism continues in 2025

Zebedee999 · 23/05/2025 11:38

Aprilrainagainagain · 22/05/2025 22:28

The Tories negotiated it. Had you even heard of it before you got all reform?
So bored of these anti Starmer threads.

The Tories started the negotiations then didn't proceed with the batsht bonkers deal. Starmer did proceed however!
I think you will see many more of these threads as everything Labour do is bonkers to most people. I mean they voted to kill 4000 pensioners (their own numbers), put up taxes on businesses to lose jobs, now this bonkers deal. Yes expect many more such threads as just when you think this lot couldn't get worse they do.

itsagelatineone · 23/05/2025 11:27

evelynevelyn · 23/05/2025 11:19

Isn’t that a bit of a colonialist mindset itself though? These peoples came from different places (mainly African vs mainly Indian) and settled in places as far apart as London and Tripoli, but because they were all indentured servants they are the same people?

The thing that links them is the colonial rule. That’s what the Mauritius legal case rests on: a convention that the colonial structure should be preserved.

I see your point. However, I was not endeavouring to categorise them as one homogenous group, rather, I was responding to the poster who said

"The chagossians are descended from enslaved people who were transported to work on plantations. The islands are nowhere near Mauritius really."

in order to show that Mauritius was also governed in this way and its people were indentured servants too so they were not any better or worse off than the people of Chagos. And yes, the thing that links them is colonial rule.

EasternStandard · 23/05/2025 11:26

Why don’t the people of Chagos get a say on their own status?

If it’s not wanted then surely they should have a voice in this.

linaplatelover · 23/05/2025 11:23

we have travelled there several times. The chagosian people live there in absolutely poverty, in shanty towns. Heartbreaking, we have finally done the correct thing.

They should have never been removed from their home

TizerorFizz · 23/05/2025 11:22

We cannot repatriate these people though can we? Where they came from is now largely irrelevant and they cannot go “home” in any meaningful way. We are not meeting legal obligations if we don’t sort it out, so we have.

ToffeeSquirrels · 23/05/2025 11:20

Aprilrainagainagain · 22/05/2025 22:28

The Tories negotiated it. Had you even heard of it before you got all reform?
So bored of these anti Starmer threads.

Oh the irony 🥱

evelynevelyn · 23/05/2025 11:19

itsagelatineone · 23/05/2025 11:08

Mauritius is also largely made up people who were brought to the island as 'indentured servants' which is akin to slavery, so where is the distinction between the inhabitants of Mauritius and inhabitants of Chagos? Also - it is a fallacy to make claim that the Chagos Archipelago is nowhere near Mauritius because 1) it is, and 2) it is certainly many hundreds of thousands of miles closer than the UK to Mauritius.

Isn’t that a bit of a colonialist mindset itself though? These peoples came from different places (mainly African vs mainly Indian) and settled in places as far apart as London and Tripoli, but because they were all indentured servants they are the same people?

The thing that links them is the colonial rule. That’s what the Mauritius legal case rests on: a convention that the colonial structure should be preserved.

Goldenbear · 23/05/2025 11:18

Sausagenbacon · 23/05/2025 08:27

Well, stay away then
Personally it seems extremely politically naive to give sovereignty to a country that has no entitlement to it, and is being wooed by Russia and China.
And pay for the privilege.

That poster should "stay away" from the thread because they don't agree with you? They're right it is just the Reform way, lifted from MAGA bombard the media (social media) with negative press and moaning about the government, find good in nothing. This kind of behaviour should serve as a warning to those thinking of biting for Reform, they don't have any substantial policies of their own, just rubbish everything and everyone!

TizerorFizz · 23/05/2025 11:17

@Sausagenbacon Internstional law is not with the status quo on this one. It’s not the Tories. It’s all governments since the 1960s. Going back to at least Wilson. We need some resolution and of course some people are not happy. If Obama had been in power we might think differently. Somewhere so far away is never in anyone’s mind until there’s an issue. It’s the way it is. Labour could have stopped the deal but we needed a lawful resolution to the issue.

LavenderBlue19 · 23/05/2025 11:16

You can tell whose algorithm has been infected by Reform propaganda, can't you.

siblingrevelryagain · 23/05/2025 11:13

“Brexit dropped from the heavens, quite frankly,” Philippe Sands, a legal adviser to Mauritius in the Chagos case, told POLITICO. “There is no question that, but for Brexit and Boris Johnson, the resolution would have had less chance of reaching the General Assembly, or being adopted with such a large majority.”

itsagelatineone · 23/05/2025 11:08

FortyElephants · 23/05/2025 10:45

The islands were a colonial stronghold and never inhabited by Mauritians as far as I am aware. The chagossians are descended from enslaved people who were transported to work on plantations. The islands are nowhere near Mauritius really. I admit I don't know much about the history of the islands pre British colonial rule but I don't think this is a 'just' decision, just a politically loaded ones

Mauritius is also largely made up people who were brought to the island as 'indentured servants' which is akin to slavery, so where is the distinction between the inhabitants of Mauritius and inhabitants of Chagos? Also - it is a fallacy to make claim that the Chagos Archipelago is nowhere near Mauritius because 1) it is, and 2) it is certainly many hundreds of thousands of miles closer than the UK to Mauritius.

HerNeighbourTotoro · 23/05/2025 11:01

Sausagenbacon · 23/05/2025 10:05

See, you guys can't keep away from Farage/Nice can you?
Could you even point out the islands on a map without googling it? Had you even heard is them 6 months ago?
No, I was ignorant. But, as people like to say, I educated myself.

You clearly have not educated yourself judging by your posts.

evelynevelyn · 23/05/2025 11:00

itsagelatineone · 23/05/2025 10:39

You do realise that these islands were stolen from Mauritius in the first place, as a result of colonisation? To say that we have any legal right to them is 1) factually incorrect and 2) effectively promoting white supremacy. Educate yourself.

Stolen from Mauritius is a strange way to see it. Chagos and Mauritius are both products of colonisation, not being inhabited before then. The two peoples have lots of links but also lots of differences (including ethnicity and religion). Chagossian views on sovereignty are mixed but many feel completely shut out of this deal.

If Britain had kept Pakistan at independence and was now relinquishing it, should it go to India or should there be self-determination?

LlynTegid · 23/05/2025 10:55

A guarantee for a military base for a long time at Diego Garcia seems a sensible deal to me. You might argue about the payment amounts, though from the Tories with the PPE scandal that is a bit rich.

Exitin · 23/05/2025 10:53

itsagelatineone · 23/05/2025 10:39

You do realise that these islands were stolen from Mauritius in the first place, as a result of colonisation? To say that we have any legal right to them is 1) factually incorrect and 2) effectively promoting white supremacy. Educate yourself.

Indeed. Absolute arrogance on show here on this thread .

This is why they need to teach more about the ills of imperialism - including the British empire more in school. There is a lack of education on this.

and no it’s not about making British people feeling “guilty” (the arrogance shows they’re clearly not) but it’s about helping people to learn from past mistakes and do better for the future.

DuncinToffee · 23/05/2025 10:51

9 judges, 1 is Chinese, none is Russian

Exitin · 23/05/2025 10:50

PandoraSocks · 23/05/2025 10:12

Well Tice and Farage are spouting off about the deal and making ridiculous theatre out of it. Are we not allowed to mention that? Why?

Edited

Exactly. Absolutely ridiculous to say they can’t be mentioned

EasternStandard · 23/05/2025 10:48

Blackcordoroys · 23/05/2025 10:42

The actual Chagossians want the islands to remain British! Rather than be handed over to another coloniser, one who is corrupt and harsh on the inhabitants and in the pocket of China.

That is a fair point. Has anyone asked the Chagossians what they prefer

Blackcordoroys · 23/05/2025 10:48

DuncinToffee · 23/05/2025 10:46

The judges who ruled were Russian and Chinese

You can back that statement up?

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/02/11/chagos-case-judge-china-official-backed-russian-in-ukraine/

SinnerBoy · 23/05/2025 10:47

It's not really a British base on the Chagos, it's an American one, which they kindly agree the use of by the UK...

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