Chagos Deal Unravels: A Web of Secret Payments and Foreign Interests
The long-simmering controversy over the Chagos Islands has erupted into a full-blown scandal, revealing a complex mix of competing interests that threaten British sovereignty and taxpayer funds. This week, the toxic brew has expanded to include Brussels, French and Spanish fishing trawlers, and discreet payments to a shadowy firm founded by National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, who is steering the Chagos capitulation.
Secret Payments and Transparency Failures
As reported, Inter Mediate, an international negotiating organisation that uses intelligence networks to facilitate back-channel communications in crises, has received hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Foreign Office during Powell's involvement in the Chagos Islands surrender. The purpose of these payments remains undisclosed, highlighting a critical lack of transparency in the entire Chagos saga.
The sovereignty surrender was never presented to the British public and did not appear in Labour's 2024 manifesto. Instead, it was orchestrated by a clique of Left-wing human rights lawyers close to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, some of whom have been paid by the Mauritian government for advice.
Dubious Legal Basis and Territorial Claims
The justification for this deal relies on a non-binding legal opinion from an international court with state appointees from Russia and China, following a non-binding UN vote. This aims to hand the islands to Mauritius, a country that has never owned them. The Chagos archipelago is as distant from Mauritius as London is from St Petersburg.
At the weekend, Mohamed Muizzu, president of the Maldives, told the BBC he will not recognise the 'deeply concerning' deal, as his country, which is far nearer to Chagos, also claims the islands. US President Donald Trump has labelled the handover an 'act of great stupidity', a sentiment echoed by many Britons questioning why billions are being spent to give away British territory.
Hidden Costs and Financial Waste
The government has attempted to obscure the true cost of the deal. No 10 claimed only £3.4 billion of taxpayer money will be handed to Mauritius over the 99-year lease of the joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia. However, figures from the Government Actuary's Department, obtained by the Conservative Party last August, suggest the cost is closer to £35 billion after inflation—a staggering waste when the Navy, Air Force, and Army urgently need proper funding in an increasingly dangerous world.
Conflict of Interest and Powell's Role
Jonathan Powell, appointed as National Security Adviser in December 2024 after serving as Britain's Chagos envoy since that summer, stepped down as CEO of Inter Mediate upon his appointment. Founded in 2011 to leverage his negotiating expertise from the Good Friday Agreement, the firm charges premium rates. On October 20, 2025, three days after the Diego Garcia Military Base Bill passed, Inter Mediate was awarded a £700,000 commitment, in addition to £349,000 paid since Powell's appointment as Chagos envoy.
While there is no suggestion Powell personally pocketed these payments, a conflict of interest arises: a highly influential National Security Adviser appears to steer foreign policy in areas benefiting his former company. The public rightly questions whether Powell gains from these contracts, undermining trust in politics, especially amid appointments like Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador.
International Intrigue and Environmental Neglect
China, an ally of Mauritius keen to see Britain and America leave Diego Garcia, has played a murky role. Powell met with the Chinese foreign minister in July 2025 to discuss the treaty, and again last week in China—a meeting announced only through a Chinese state press release, not the UK government.
Brussels also stands to benefit. A European Commission report states that sovereignty transfer would 'further increase the relevance' of the EU's fishing agreement with Mauritius, potentially opening Chagos' marine-rich waters to French and Spanish trawlers. Since 2010, Britain has enforced a 'no take zone' around Chagos, one of the planet's largest Marine Protected Areas, yet environmentalists remain silent.
Reform leader Nigel Farage calls the EU's plan to plunder these waters the 'final straw', denouncing the Chagos policy as 'a terrible deal in every respect, including marine conservation'. As the stench of this surrender grows, it becomes increasingly hard to disagree.
