Diego Garcia row: Truss and Cleverly blamed as Starmer ‘surrenders’ key airbase islands

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. There is a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, one of a cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean known as the Chagos Islands He added: “Both as foreign secretary in the Johnson government and as prime minister, Liz was absolutely clear that we would never and should never cede the territory." Mr Powell said that the previous Tory administration had managed to “lose the trust” of their Mauritian counterparts, telling BBC Radio 4’s The World at One programme: “So, for the people who were involved in that negotiation to start criticising the outcome, something they couldn’t achieve, is absolutely ludicrous.” He added: “They are criticising it because they want to try and score points in their desperate attempt to win the leadership.” The government said on Thursday that it would recognise the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chagos Islands under a new agreement, which also secures the right of Britain to operate a military base at Diego Garcia for at least the next 99 years. Foreign secretary David Lammy said the government had “inherited a situation where the long-term, secure operation of the Diego Garcia military base was under threat”. President Biden said the Diego Garcia military base plays a “vital role” in US national, regional and global security, noting that the deal secures its operation for a century.