Number 10 is all over the place after the Chagos surrender deal was torpedoed last week. Asked at the Lobby briefing of press hacks today if the government believes the US still officially supports the deal, the spokesman said:
“Discussions continue, and we have been clear throughout that Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset not just for us but for the US as well, and that’s why we sought and received US support… You’ve got public pronouncements from the US. We will obviously update on developments as you’d expect…”
The spokesman said multiple times the deal won’t go ahead without the explicit backing of the Americans. There is still no timetable for when the surrender will return to Parliament. The clock is ticking, and Starmer’s attempts to schmooze Trump with flattering phone calls aren’t helping. Save Chagos!
Starmer was read out a list of his 13 U-turns on BBC Radio 2, to which he responded:
“Well, I am a common sense merchant.”