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The UK can pay ‘tens of hundreds of thousands’ of kilos a yr to lease a vital army base on the Chagos Islands on behalf of the US, it was claimed final evening.
Senior sources advised the Mail that the invoice for Diego Garcia, which has been a army base for UK and US forces because the Nineteen Seventies, may even run into the low a whole lot of hundreds of thousands.
The Authorities mentioned it has secured a 99-year lease for Diego Garcia, the biggest island within the Indian Ocean archipelago, as a part of the take care of Mauritius.
However the Authorities has refused to clarify how a lot it’ll value.
A spokesman for the charity Buddies of the British Abroad Territories mentioned: ‘We can be paying hundreds of thousands, if not billions, to lease again our personal island for 99 years.
The UK can pay ‘tens of hundreds of thousands’ of kilos a yr to lease a vital army base on the Chagos Islands on behalf of the US
The Authorities mentioned it has secured a 99-year lease for Diego Garcia, the biggest island within the Indian Ocean archipelago, as a part of the take care of Mauritius
‘[The Government] ought to rethink the deal urgently and clarify that there can be no additional negotiation on the Chagos Islands, or another UK Abroad Territory.’
Ex-Tory Armed Forces minister Mark Francois mentioned: ‘As this mad determination was not introduced in Parliament, we don’t know the “lease” we must pay for what was our personal base, nor which authorities division must pay for it.’ Tory peer Lord Kempsell repeatedly raised the problem of the Chagos Islands in Parliament as a result of he mentioned he was ‘suspicious Labour would cede sovereignty’.
Simply 9 days earlier than the deal was introduced, he was advised by Labour peer Baroness Chapman of Darlington that it was ‘too early to take a position’.
Overseas Secretary David Lammy can be anticipated to make an announcement on the deal to the Commons on Monday and will face an Pressing Query if not.
The Overseas Workplace mentioned full particulars of the association can be set out at a later date.