SW1 has finally caught up with Guido’s exclusive reporting from last January on the little-regarded Africa Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Pelindaba Treaty, to which Mauritius is a signatory. Here we go…
Mauritius would have to be compliant. The deal:
“Prohibits the research, development, manufacture, stockpiling, acquisition, testing, possession, control or stationing of nuclear weapons, as well as the dumping of radioactive wastes. The Treaty also prohibits any attack against nuclear installations in the zone by Treaty parties and requires them to maintain the highest standards of physical protection of nuclear material, facilities and equipment, which are to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.”
Reports say that Diego Garcia is a crucial base for all manner of US military nuclear applications. The Telegraph reports that the Mauritian Deputy PM told a meeting as follows: “The Pelindaba Treaty… it has been in place for years. It does not, unfortunately, ban the presence of nuclear (weapons), it prevents the storage. There is a difference between storage & transit.” The United States will not tolerate any inhibition on its ability to freely operate nuclear weapons on the base…
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.”