The White House is reportedly weighing up buying the Chagos Islands outright, though the idea is “not the leading solution” at the time of going to pixel. According to the Telegraph, US officials have drafted a paper of alternatives to Starmer’s surrender plan to hand the territory to Mauritius, with an outright purchase among the options raised directly with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before reaching Trump’s desk. The stakes have obviously risen since the war in Iran…
Buying the islands wouldn’t bypass Britain cleanly, because Washington would first have to let Starmer’s deal go through, then negotiate with Mauritius once sovereignty had transferred. Given that deal is dead in the water, it isn’t hard to work out why this isn’t the White House’s first choice…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”