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James Cleverly has condemned Sir Keir Starmer as “weak, weak, weak” for handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius - despite having kicked off negotiations over the deal when he was foreign secretary.
After a barnstorming conference, which catapulted Mr Cleverly to second favourite in the Tory leadership contest, the mis-step threatened to derail his momentum.
Rival Tom Tugendhat piled in with a tweet claiming it was disgraceful that the talks had started “under our watch” as a Tory government and without naming Cleverly he noted that his successor Lord Cameron had briefly halted them.
A senior Tory source said: “This was Cleverly’s Chagos deal! David Lammy just got it over the line.”
Responding on Twitter to the historic announcement about the deal to hand the islands to Mauritius, Mr Cleverly said: “Weak, weak, weak!
“Labour lied to get into office. Said they’d be whiter than white, said they wouldn’t put up taxes, said they’d stand up to the EU, said that they would be patriotic. All lies!”
But in November 2022, when he was serving as foreign secretary, Mr Cleverly was responsible for the opening of talks on the sovereignty of the archipelago.
After a meeting with the Mauritian PM, he told the Commons: “The UK and Mauritius have decided to begin negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT)/Chagos archipelago.
“The UK and Mauritius have agreed to engage in constructive negotiations, with a view to arriving at an agreement by early next year.”
Mr Cleverly’s chief leadership rival on the moderate side of the party, Mr Tugendhat said it was disgraceful that negotiations about the future of the Chagos Islands began under the Conservatives, in an attack on the former foreign secretary.
“Lord Cameron rightly blocked them only to see it back under David Lammy’s complete failure of leadership,” he said, adding that the decision was “shameful”.
Mr Tughendhat’s criticism feeds into a widespread whispering campaign by Tory MPs against Mr Cleverly when he was foreign secretary that he was too willing to take policy from officials rather than shape himself in the FCDO.
Concerns had previously been raised against his unwillingness to go against the advice of his officials with more robust policies on Iran and China.
On Thursday, Mr Lammy said Britain would recognise the sovereignty of Mauritius over the archipelago under a new agreement, which also secures the rights of Britain to operate a military base at Diego Garcia for at least the next 99 years.
The Foreign Office said the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure following a political agreement between the two countries.
Mr Lammy said the government had “inherited a situation where the long-term, secure operation of the Diego Garcia military base was under threat”.
He added: “Today’s agreement secures this vital military base for the future.
“Our deal, supported by our US partners, will protect international security, close a potential illegal migration route, and avert threats to peace and prosperity in the Indian Ocean.”
Diego Garcia is a remote island in the Indian Ocean strictly out of bounds to most civilians. A BBC report described it as a secretive UK-US military base shrouded for decades in rumour and mystery.
Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the military base.
The expulsions are regarded as one of the most shameful parts of Britain’s modern colonial history and Chagossians have spent decades fighting to return to the islands.
The United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, previously ruled the UK’s administration of the territory was "unlawful" and must end.
The Foreign Office said the agreement is subject to a treaty and supporting legal instruments being finalised, adding that both sides have committed to complete this as quickly as possible.
A Downing Street spokesman said Sir Keir spoke to his Mauritius counterpart, Pravind Jugnauth, on Thursday morning.
The spokesman said: "The leaders began by welcoming the political agreement achieved today between the UK and Mauritius on the exercise of sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago after two years of negotiations.
"The prime minister reiterated the importance of reaching this deal to protect the continued operation of the UK/US military base on Diego Garcia.
"He underscored his steadfast duty to national and global security which underpinned the political agreement reached today."
In a joint statement, the prime minister of the Republic of Mauritius and Sir Keir hailed the historic political agreement on the exercise of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago.
They said the deal will secure the effective operation of the key base on Diego Garcia. And they said Mauritius will now be free to implement a resettlement scheme for displaced Chagossians.
