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…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”