In February last year – just before Trump’s White House meeting with Starmer – the then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the Chagos deal would not go ahead if Trump didn’t like it. Good to know…
Robert Peston asked: “Does President Trump have a veto?”
Lammy: “If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward. And the reason for that is because we have a shared military and intelligence interest with the United States. And of course, they’ve got to be happy with the deal or there is no deal.”
Clear-cut…
The government is so far defiant after Trump’s ferocious attack on the Chagos Surrender deal. ‘Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister’ Darren Jones was on the morning round. He said this was ‘fine’…
“The treaty has already been signed on Diego Garcia…just about finishing legislation in parliament… It’s the British government’s view that for Diego Garcia, that is the best way to protect that island… the treaty has been signed with the Mauritian government. So I can’t reverse the clock on that. The treaty has been signed. Parliament has a kind of enabling function on treaties. It’s not like a traditional piece of legislation. So it can’t unwind the treaty having been signed.”
That is obviously wrong as the treaty means nothing until it is ratified -moreover, the US is not party to the treaty. Jones added it was “fine” that Donald Trump had changed his position on the deal: “Diego Garcia was part of the British Empire. There was a legal challenge to the sovereignty of it from the Mauritians, but we wanted to secure it for the next century for military operations. And that’s what we’ve been able to do through the deal that we have.” He doesn’t sound convinced…
The official British government response is as follows:
“The UK will never compromise on our national security. We acted because the base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it operating as intended in future. “This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out. “It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all other Five Eyes allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea.”
The deal needs the full co-operation of the US to proceed in any form. This is incredibly difficult for Keir Starmer…
Farage says he’ll challenge the White House on Trump’s tariffs directly when he flies to Davos this week:
“…I will be having some words with the American administration in Davos on Wednesday on this issue on Wednesday. It’s wrong.”
‘Whether Trump’s bluffing or not is always difficult to tell…’
There are nerves in Whitehall over how the US will receive Starmer’s high-stakes trip to China at the end of the month. Not everyone is a fan of the Golden Keir-a…
The visit is still penned in for the end of January and Guido hears National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell – who has been leading on this – will make a pre-visit in the next ten days. Number 10 and the Foreign Office are preparing to work on how to handle US officials during the visit. A government source tells Guido there is “some worry that some of the announcements from the visit could irk Trump.” Expect investment, collaboration, and so on. What the Donald fixes on can never be anticipated…
Guido also hears Chinese are waiting for the mega-embassy decision before engaging more fully on the visit. The Tories today call the embassy a “launch pad for economic warfare.” Plans first put out by the Mail on Sunday last year and re-upped by the Telegraph today show plans for the embassy include 208 secret rooms and a hidden chamber through which there is potential access to a mass of sensitive data cables. There is another large protest on Saturday against the mega-embassy which numerous politicians are expected to attend. Planning minister Matthew Pennycook said a final decision will be made over the next week – the government is expected to wave it through…
Trump has posted on Truth Social:
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”
Trump was due to be briefed on available options by officials today. MIGA…
The BBC has filed a motion to dismiss Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the corporation in south Florida. One aim of which is to stop the discovery process before it begins…
The BBC’s lawyers argue there is a jurisdictional issue:
“This defamation case arises out of a documentary that defendants the British Broadcasting Corporation (“the BBC”) … did not create in Florida, produce in Florida or air in Florida… This court lacks personal jurisdiction over them [the defendants] and plaintiff fails to state claims for defamation or violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.”
They additionally claim the defamation claim is too weak and the President “also failed to plead, and will not be able to prove, that the program caused him any cognisable injury… As plaintiff failed to plead actual damages, claiming only vague ‘harm to his professional and occupational interests,’ his claim fails.” If these pre-moves fail the BBC is likely to be forced to settle…
Lucy Powell on LBC, asked by Tom Swarbrick for her reaction to Labour MP Samantha Niblett’s call for a ‘summer of sex’ debate in Parliament: “I personally don’t own any sex toys, but each to their own… I’m not really sure that’s the right place for it, no.”