Asked if Donald Trump should block the deal, Kemi Badenoch’s spokesman said: “If it is as has been rumoured…then yes,” he said, adding “Hopefully he will stop it”
Kemi Badenoch wants Donald Trump to interfere with British politics, blocking a decision made by the elected Government, her spokesman has admitted.
Her spokesman said “hopefully” the US President will intervene to block the forthcoming deal over the Chagos Islands.
The Prime Minister has said an agreement with Mauritius was crucial for national security, saying it clears up legal uncertainty over the islands, home to a military base on Diego Garcia.
But despite not having seen the current terms of the proposed deal, the spokesman said any deal that saw the UK give up control of the territory would be a “bad deal.”
Asked if Donald Trump should block it, the spokesman said: “If it is as has been rumoured…then yes,” he said, adding “Hopefully he will stop it.”
Asked if he was suggesting a foreign power should intervene to block a decision of the elected UK government, he said: “I want a foreign power to stop the Labour government doing something that is not only a ruinous burden to taxpayers, but also a massive loss of strategic advantage.”
The spokesman refused to say whether there were any other elements of UK Government policy that Ms Badenoch would be happy to see a foreign power overturn.
At PMQs, Ms Badenoch pressed the Prime Minister over whether the Government’s increase in defence spending includes funding being used for the Chagos Islands deal.
She said: “This morning the Defence Secretary could not say if the Chagos deal would come out of the defence budget. Can he confirm to the House that none of the defence uplift includes payments for his Chagos deal?”
Mr Starmer replied in the Commons: “The additional spend I announced yesterday is for our capability on defence and security in Europe, as I made absolutely clear yesterday.
“The Chagos deal is extremely important for our security, for US security. The US are rightly looking at it. When it’s finalised I’ll put it before the House with the costings.
“The figures being bandied around are absolutely wide of the mark, the deal is well over a century but the funding I announced yesterday is for our capability to put ourselves in a position to rise to a generational challenge, that is what that money is all about and I thought she supported it.”
Mrs Badenoch countered: “We need to make sure we’re supporting a plan that is clear and transparent.”