Co-conspirators will remember when Guido revealed that Starmer’s close mate Philippe Sands KC is Mauritus’ chief legal adviser and represented the country in its campaign to secure sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. That explains the surrender deal…
During a talk in Cambridge last year Sands spoke of how great it was that he could be celebrated for defeating and ‘humiliating’ the UK in the UN’s courts:
“It’s a really fantastic thing about Britain that I think it’s probably the only country in the world where when you’ve been to an international court against your own country, won, and humiliated them completely, they still celebrate you and that is special.”
Sands who says Starmer is a “great friend,” has acted as counsel of Mauritius since 2010 and acted against Britain at three tribunals including the widely cited 2017 ICJ tribunal which was initiated by the UN General Assembly. All are advisory and non-binding. As Guido revealed yesterday the deal agreed by the UK government could prevent nuclear weapons from being stationed on Diego Garcia all while Trump’s team rages at its terms. It’s become Starmer and Sands against the rest…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”