A judgement just handed down from the British Indian Ocean Territory Court of Appeal has found in the favour of the authorities who are seeking to remove Chagossians from the archipelago. Chagos First Minister Misley Mandarin landed on one of the islands along with colleagues earlier this year in protest at the Labour government’s plan to cede sovereignty to Mauritius…
The Chagossians can now appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The judgement throws up a difficult political dilemma for Burnham, who has turned his back on the giveaway. If he is seen to forcibly remove the Chagossians from the territory he will look heavy handed and punitive. Meanwhile, the White House remains firmly opposed to the deal. Another Starmer era headache Burnham could do without…
Lucy Powell told Sky News that the Ed Miliband-Russell Brand interview happened in part because the ‘social media age’ had not begun by 2015:
“Look, I mean, he approached the Labour Party, he approached the campaign team, and we’re in very different times now. We weren’t in the social media age at the time – where you could maybe search things up and see allegations about somebody at the time. and as I say, if there was any suggestion at all, we were dealing with someone who was a known sexual predator at the time, then, of course, you know, no one would have done that. But as I say, he was a well known public figure. Lots of people from Hollywood to the BBC to many others gave this person a very, very powerful platform. And we didn’t know at the time, unfortunately. It was a different era.”