As the Chagos Islands were in the process of being given to Mauritius you might have thought Foreign Secretary Lammy would be focussed on the aftermath of Starmer’s decision to damage UK strategic interests and shrink its territory. Wrong…

Lammy was, as usual, more interested in talking about race. He sent round an internal memo to diplomats in the FCDO as the news was blowing up talking about… slavery:

“Black History Month is a moment to reflect on the impact of black heritage and culture on our country and our place in the world. It’s a chance to celebrate the enormous contribution of black people in Britain, and also to acknowledge some of our country’s most painful history.

This is important to all of us in the FCDO. First, because of this Department’s role in that history. From King Charles Street, British officials administered colonies in which millions were enslaved. My ancestors were among them, taken from Africa across the Atlantic to labour in the Caribbean.

Second, because of this Department’s role today. Our job is to represent the UK, a nation in which black Britons make an astounding contribution in all walks of life.”

Guido hates to point out the Foreign Secretary’s historical innaccuracies, but the Charles Street building was completed as a Foreign Office headquarters in 1868 – 35 years after the complete abolition of slavery across the empire. History’s never been Lammy’s strong suit…

Lammy’s more interested in lecturing his staff about himself than doing his job. No change there…

As the fallout continues over Labour’s immediate cession of the Chagos Islands to China-aligned Mauritius, special envoy for the negotiations Jonathan Powell has revealed the depth of the strategic thinking behind the decision on Times Radio this morning:

“These are very tiny islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean where no one actually goes. So I don’t think we should be too worried about losing that bit of territory. We’re probably losing more to tidal erosion in the East Coast than that.”

As everyone on Twitter has pointed out it was Powell who Blair told: “We mustn’t lose any more territory” after the 1997 Hong Kong deal. That agreement also included a “guarantee” over the use of the territory – see how that went…

Meanwhile a spokesman for Liz Truss said bizarrely last night: “It was Boris Johnson who asked Liz to talk to Prime Minister Jugnauth about this at COP26, which she did.” After which came the sheepish addition that “for the avoidance of doubt, Boris was not in favour of ceding the territory either and anyone interpreting what I said as suggesting he was is making mischief…”

Many in SW1 have been surprised by the speed at which the Chagos Islands have been handed over to China-aligned Mauritius. They shouldn’t be…

Guido can reveal that Starmer’s close friend Philippe Sands KC is Mauritus’ chief legal adviser and a longtime agitator for Mauritian control of the islands. He submitted in evidence to Parliament in January of this year:

“At the outset, I wish to make clear that as a member of the Bar of England and Wales I have acted as counsel to Mauritius since 2010 in relation to the Chagos Archipelago. As such, I have been involved in the proceedings before the Annex VII arbitral tribunal (2010-2015), the International Court of Justice (ICJ, 2017-2019) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS, 2019-2023). I continue to advise the Government of Mauritius.”

Starmer’s friend led the successful charge in international courts to shame “progressives” into giving away strategically vital British territory. Sands pressed his extreme views in more evidence this March to the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committe on the Overseas Territories:

“As a matter of international law, the situation today is crystal clear: Mauritius is recognised to have sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, and the UK is considered to have no rights over that territory, or even a claim. Accordingly, this is not a situation in which it would be appropriate or correct for the Sub-Committee to make reference to any future transfer of sovereignty by the United Kingdom: the United Kingdom has no sovereignty to transfer.”

Sands is a founder of Matrix Chambers, which also happens to be where Starmer’s other close mate and their mutual friend Richard Hermer was plucked from to serve as Attorney General. It looks like the UK’s performative self-harm was a done deal from the moment Starmer walked into Downing Street…

Eyebrows have been raised very high across SW1 after James Cleverly tweeted that Labour’s decision to give away Chagos was “weak, weak, weak.” Probably should have left this one James…

Tugendhat’s campaign has gone in for Cleverly thanks to the fact that he kicked off the handover negotiation: “Labour’s decision to push forward the deal negotiated by James Cleverly to give up the Chagos Islands has raised questions about the government’s commitment to the Falkland Islands.” Another campaign source tells Guido: “James has some cheek criticising this decision. He’s the one who wanted this deal. Others such as Tom as security minister opposed this – they would never sell our country down the river. It’s shameful to claim otherwise.” Yellow cards out everyone…

A Foreign Office source closely familiar with negotiations under the Tories tells Guido in no uncertain terms:

“Surrendering sovereignty of the Chagos Islands was a policy that James himself came up with as Foreign Secretary. He decided that they should go to Mauritius. He opened negotiations. And he ignored voices from the White House and our own government when they warned that it would be a serious threat to UK security interests. The only reason that this didn’t happen on his watch is because David Cameron put a stop to it. For him to now criticise Labour for weakness is laughable.”

Meanwhile a Tory insider tells Guido:

“No one can quite work out why Clev’s tweeted. Everybody knew he’d started this surrender as Foreign Sec and it took Cameron to stop it, yet he’s calling Labour ‘weak’?! The shine has come off that conference act quickly.”

And after such a good day yesterday…

UPDATE: A Cleverly campaign source tries to deflect:

“There is no point pretending this is anything other than Labour’s deal. It is a sign of Keir Starmer and David Lammy’s awful negotiating.”

The government’s Chagos handover is entirely in China’s interests – Chinese direct investment in Mauritius was $46 million in 2020, taking its total cumulative investment to a whopping $887 million. Over 18% of Mauritius’s total imports came from China that year – which has only increased. Meanwhile the Pentagon warned that it was concerned over any potential ceding of strategic territory to a state under Chinese influence…

In a cozy conversation with the Lowy Institute in May, Lammy said exactly what the Chinese would want to hear:

“We have an important trading relationship. Climate requires cooperation. Health requires cooperation, AI requires cooperation. And so it’s important that we’re engaged. We have been very concerned that the government seems to have given up entirely on engagement with China. No one seems to have gone from our government to China, which is very, very bizarre.”

Labour has repeatedly criticised the Tories for refusing to “engage” with China while promising to “reconnect” with it. This year then-Shadow Asia Minister Catherine West, reporting to Lammy, visited the country specifically to meet with Xi Jinping’s strategic mastermind Wan Huning. Highly irregular…

On entering government Lammy curiously refused to honour his promise of accusing the Chinese of genocide in in Xinjiang. He subsequently met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Laos at the end of July and “set out that the government would cooperate where we can.” Cooperation means give and take…

Labour dark lord Peter Mandelson is busy lobbying for an end to the “Tory boycott” of Hong Kong and the reopening of relations with China. Both Lammy and Reeves are angling for visits to China as part of a reorientation towards “engagement” with the totalitarian state. The decision to give up strategic military assets in the Indian Ocean to a China-aligned country will be warmly received in Beijing ahead of those talks…

Labour has given away the Chagos Islands to China-aligned Mauritius, the move being slammed as “weak” and “outrageous” by hacks and Tory benches alike. Starmer and Lammy have managed to dodge the heat, pushing this decision through during recess—convenient timing, keeping them safely out of the firing line in the Commons…

It was less than a month ago that Jonathan Powell was appointed as the special envoy on talks. And just a few days ago, Lord Kempsell was told by ministers that “it was too early to speculate on timelines and conclusions” on negotiations:

Nine days ago, the government asserted that no conclusion had been made. They say a week is a long time in politics, yet how can this decision have been made in such a short period of time?