The lower ranks reshuffle has bedded in and we now know who will be responsible for policy on the British Overseas Territories including Chagos. Burnham has already given too much leeway to the idea of continuing Starmer’s appalling sellout deal with Mauritius…
Meet new FCDO minister Uma Kumaran. Guido hadn’t heard of her either…
Kumaran wrote on her website:
“Here in Britain, I’ve championed the rights of Tamil refugees, asking the Government about vulnerable Tamil refugees and migrants in Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Islands. Under the previous Conservative administration, Tamil migrants were left to languish in Diego Garcia for over 1000 days without representation or basic rights. The new Labour Government has now offered them safe refuge in the UK. In Parliament I am a member of the All Party Parliamentary group on refugees – who advocate for human rights to be upheld, that safe routes of passage be made available whilst also ensuring that Britain’s borders remain safe and secure.”
In reality, the Tamils who landed on British Indian Ocean Territory were illegal migrants, initially picked up by the Royal Navy, who then began landing on Chagos themselves in six small boats. The incident caused a legal nightmare for the UK: the Tamils claimed asylum in Britain, and the military facilities on Chagos were not suitable to house them while Whitehall scrambled to rebuff the claims. The British taxpayer paid more than £100,000 a day for years to house them on BIOT. Their claim to enter Britain from a set of islands 6000 miles away looked absurd on the face of it…
That’s until Labour let them in, despite BIOT and Whitehall officials being concerned this would establish an illegal back door route to the UK. Shortly after the General Election, they began being granted humanitarian visas to come to Britain, and then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper extended “the opportunity” for them to be “transferred directly to the UK“. Kumaran boasts on her website that she supported this effort…
The saga is a key dividing line on the purpose of Chagos: the UK government position is that it should not be allowed to become a route to settlement in the mainland UK. Does the new Chagos minister agree with that position? If not, why is she the British Overseas Territories minister?
UPDATE: Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp tells Guido:
“This appointment is farcical. Burnham asks us to take him seriously, and then promotes a lefty MP who wants more illegal migration to the UK. Labour cannot be trusted to stand up for our country.”
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.”