Basically we were trying to hold onto it with an invalid claim in international law that could have severely impacted our continued long term use as as a secret base. Some pesky facts. We could have gone to war over it - that's a strategy - just a terrible one.
This deal serves the UK’s interests
By John Healey
For more than 50 years, the UK’s military base on Diego Garcia has been a launchpad to defeat terrorists, seek out and deter threats to our nation and protect our economic security.
There is one simple, inescapable fact – families across Britain are made safer by the activities of this base.
Our national security rests on securing a deal that serves the UK’s interests. A deal that retains operational sovereignty of this base. To surrender it now – amid rising threats to Britain’s national security – would be unthinkable.
That is why the Government has successfully negotiated a deal that means we can operate the base as we have done for the next 99 years and beyond.
Many of the key activities on Diego Garcia are rightly conducted in secrecy, and will always remain so. But it is widely acknowledged, by our allies and adversaries, that its location gives Britain and our allies a crucial strategic military advantage across the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East.
The continued operation of this base is also vital to maintaining a strong relationship with America, our closest security ally. Its airfield and deep-water port support a wide range of air and naval operations, including the safe berth of nuclear-powered submarines.
And the base allows for the rapid deployment of UK and US armed forces to the Middle East, east Africa and south Asia.
It is from Diego Garcia where we monitor the use of nuclear weapons across the globe. The base also supports the Global Positioning System, which everyone from astronauts to motorists, to our UK military, relies on to navigate. It also acts as a staging post for humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions in the region.
Diego Garcia strengthens Britain’s economic security – the economic security for families across our country.
More than a third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of global oil shipments is transported over the Indian Ocean. The base enables us to protect vital shipping routes, keeping the prices of food and energy down here at home.
Despite holding 11 rounds of talks with the Mauritian government, the previous Conservative government failed to secure the future of the base.
Now yesterday’s champions have become today’s critics. Anyone who would argue to abandon this deal would abandon the base. With the base in jeopardy, no action was no option when we came into Government.
Sitting on our hands was not an option. Were we to do nothing, within a matter of weeks our ability to patrol the waters around the base would be compromised. And if a deal were negotiated with an adversary, they could have exploited the situation by conducting covert operations, setting up outposts on surrounding islands and disrupting crucial communications systems on the base. This would deeply damage the security of the UK and our allies.
Agreeing this deal now – on our terms – means that the UK retains full control over Diego Garcia. It means control over movement of all persons and goods, control over all communication and electronic systems, and freedom to conduct any armed operations from the island – just as we have been able to do for the past 50 years.
And, crucially, it means nothing can be built within a strengthened, 24-nautical-mile buffer zone without Britain’s say so. A strict ban will be imposed on foreign security forces operating on the outer islands. That’s why our closest allies support this deal and why President Donald Trump described it as “very long term” and “very strong.”
As the world becomes more dangerous, Diego Garcia military base becomes more important. This Government will never compromise on our national security. We will always act to protect the British people. A steadfast commitment to our national security is the foundation of this Government’s Plan for Change. And with this deal, we have made Britain more secure at home and stronger abroad.
John Healey is the Defence Secretary