Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has launched a scathing attack on the Government's Chagos Islands deal, describing it as a "horrible surrender" of British territory.
Speaking to GB News, Badenoch criticised Prime Minister Starmer's decision, claiming the motivation behind the deal was "reparations" and "to apologise for decolonisation."
She firmly stated: "This is British territory. We have a strategic military base there." Her comments represent the strongest opposition yet from the Tory leadership to the agreement, which would see changes to the status of the Indian Ocean territory.
Badenoch highlighted the significant financial implications of the deal, telling GB News: "It's going to cost us £100million every year, that's 2,000 nurses every year that we could be having."
Kemi Badenoch launched a scathing attack on Keir Starmer's 'madness' Chagos deal
GB News / PA
She claimed the total cost of the agreement would reach "30 billion pounds" - a figure that would represent a substantial commitment from the Treasury at a time of ongoing public service pressures.
Badenoch expressed serious concerns about strategic implications of the deal, warning that it would result in the loss of a "strategic military base" that serves British interests.
She emphasised what she considers the most troubling aspect of the agreement: "And you know the worst bit, Mauritius is an ally of China."
Despite her strong opposition, Badenoch acknowledged the Conservative Party's limited ability to block the agreement in Parliament.
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Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK had agreed a deal with Mauritius on the future of the Diego Garcia base
PA"We're voting against the deal now. But unfortunately, there's 120 Conservative MPs. We're going to need a lot of Labour MPs to see sense," she told GB News.
Badenoch lamented the party's reduced parliamentary influence following the last election, saying: "People swapped out about 250 Tory MPs for about five or four MPs.
"We now don't have the numbers, and we got 70 Lib Dems as well, well to the left of Labour."
She added: "We don't always have the numbers to overturn things, but we're going to vote against the Chagos deal."
Badenoch warned that Mauritius is an 'ally of China'
GB News
Reaffirming her stance on the Conservatives planning to leave the ECHR, Badenoch added: "Every day I see a new case that looks like the ECHR is unsustainable.
"Every day I see a new case. But it's not just the ECHR, it is the Refugee Convention, and looking at so many other things."
She concluded: "I don't ever want to say something that I have to walk back on. I don't want to make promises and then have to change them and people think that I was dishonest.
"We have a dishonest Labour Government, okay, right now we are the honest party."
