Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's "insane" Chagos deal, after signing a £10billion agreement.
In an announcement on Thursday, the Labour leader confirmed Britain's newly signed deal with Mauritius on the future of the Diego Garcia base, claiming the staggering cost was "part and parcel of Britain's global reach".
Starmer claimed: "If we did not agree this deal, the legal situation would mean that we would not be able to prevent China or any other nation setting up their own bases on the outer islands, or carrying out joint exercises near our base."
Speaking to GB News, Vickers hit out at the deal and declared the multi-billion pound agreement is a "disaster".
Matt Vickers hit out at Keir Starmer's 'insane' Chagos deal, after signing the £10billion agreement
GB News / PA
Vickers fumed: "It's £101million a year over 99 years, that's a hell of a lot more than £3.4billion. We've heard several numbers from the Government on this, but this is the nearest guesstimate that's been come to.
"£101million, whatever it is, it's the wrong deal. It's a deal that shouldn't be going ahead. We're literally giving something back and then paying to lease a military base, it's insane. Imagine what you could be doing with that money?"
When pressed by host Ellie Costello on the Conservatives "opening the can of worms" with the Chagos negotiations, Vickers stressed that the Tories would "never have gone in" with this path of negotiation.
Vickers explained: "We have dialogues with countries across the globe who ask lots of things at lots of times, we would never have gone in with this. It was just not a thing, it's a bad deal for Britain. When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.
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Speaking at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK had agreed a deal with Mauritius on the future of the Diego Garcia basePA"We've seen it with Chagos, this absolutely ridiculous deal that is going to cost the taxpayers of the UK a fortune.
"We've seen it with the EU negotiations that are underway, we've seen it with the India trade deal that's seen British workers being taxed to the eyeballs whilst Indian workers get tax breaks. It is utter chaos, when Labour negotiates Britain loses."
Pressed by host Stephen Dixon on Secretary of State Marco Rubio's take on the deal, and how it secures a "long term, stable and effective operation" of the joint facility at Diego Garcia, Vickers argued that the deal is "not in the British interest".
Vickers told GB News: "There might be lots of views from different parts of the world who have lots of different interests, but this deal is not in Britain's interests at all.
"It's not in the interests of taxpayers who are going to be forking up for this ridiculous sum of money."
Vickers told GB News that the deal is 'not in Britain's interests'
GB News
Delivering his verdict on Starmer's defence of the deal, Vickers claimed that the Prime Minister would have offered the "same defence for the EU deal".
Vickers concluded: "He probably would have said the same thing about his new relationship with the EU and the difficulties that he's causing for farmers. We're now becoming subject to more EU law.
"We're handing more control back to the European Court of Justice, we're seeing more British taxpayers money going, all these things are choices that guy has put behind Number 10 to make choices. This is the wrong choice, and it's a bad deal for Britain."
He added: "It is a negotiation, it is a deal, it is a bad deal. No court anywhere has told him that he needs to hand over £101million every year for the next 99 years, no one has told him that. He should be fighting for Britain's interests."
