Who knows whether he means it but Andy Burnham has given an interview to The Economist which suggests he might have fully reversed ferret on Starmer’s disastrous Chagos giveaway. The magazine reports:
“There is no sign of Mr Trump backing down on one of the thorniest issues in the transatlantic relationship. The Chagos Islands host an American naval base. To the president’s chagrin, Sir Keir wanted to hand them to Mauritius. Mr Burnham suggests he is rethinking whether to give up British sovereignty over the archipelago. His government will “recast the arrangement”, he says, citing as a possible precedent the deal between Denmark and America which allows America greater access to Greenland for military purposes.”
No10’s readout of Burnham meeting Mauritian PM Navin Ramgoolam at CHOGM goes as follows: “During the discussion, the Prime Minister underlined his commitment to working with Mauritius and the United States on a way forward that secured the operation of the Diego Garcia base and protected national security for all three countries. They agreed to work on a shared plan to make further progress by the end of the year.” Ominous…
It’s not clear how such a ‘Greenland precedent’ would work as the two scenarios are different; but this is the first time Burnham has been reported as “rethinking” the question of giving up sovereignty over British Indian Ocean Territory. If true, that’s another Guido victory…
Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked John Healey: “Just finally, I mean Andy Burnham has been very clear he wants Britain back in the European Union in his lifetime. Do you?”
The Chancellor replied: “I’m older than Andy Burnham. I don’t expect to see that.”