Farage and Badenoch clash over plan to trade Chagos for Trump silence on the Falklands

Kemi Badenoch and Farage have become embroiled in a row over the Chagos and Falklands Islands this week.

Prime minister to face MPs at PMQs before hosting Ukraine’s president in LondonWhile Andy Burnham prepares for PMQs, he may be amused by a peculiar row that has broken out between Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, the leaders of the two most prominent rightwing opposition parties. It is about the Chagos Islands – a subject on which until recently the Tories and Reform UK were united in their opposition to Labour’s proposed deal transferring sovereignty to Mauritius.The Telegraph has a story by Genevieve Holl-Allen quoting what Farage, the Reform UK leader, recently told a US podcast. He said he would have handed it over to President Trump. Farage said:I’d have gone in and said, ‘Right, you know what, mate? Chagos, it’s yours. Diego Garcia, in perpetuity, the most strategic American military base in the world, which it is.Outside mainland America, Diego is the most important thing America has for nuclear subs, for long-range bombers, for all of it.Giving away British territory in return for someone keeping quiet is not a deal. It is humiliating.There is no pride in our country in the way he talks about us. This is careless, loose talk from a man who wants to be responsible for Britain’s national security.This is totally dishonest journalism. I make it clear that I am opposed to the surrender of sovereignty to Mauritius. I would offer the use of Diego Garcia to the USA in perpetuity. In return I would want America to go quiet on the Falklands.No one has fought harder to save the Chagos Islands from being given away than I have, unlike the Tories and Labour trying to give them away. I have even helped repopulate the islands with Chagossians. Continue reading...

Ms Badenoch called out the Reform UK leader for telling a podcast he would offer Donald Trump the archipelago if he agreed to 'stop talking about the Falkland Islands'

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.Kemi Badenoch has been condemned by the White House after she hit out at Nigel Farage over comments he made about the Chagos Islands on a US podcast.The Reform UK leader appeared to suggest he would hand the British overseas territory to America in return for Donald Trump remaining silent about the future of the Falkland Islands.Badenoch said that was “loose talk from a man who wants to be responsible for Britain’s national security”.But in an extraordinary intervention, a White House official accused the Tory leader of “peddling fake news and undermining the Anglo-American relationship”.Labour wants to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while paying for a 99-year lease to retain the US-UK military base at Diego Garcia.However, the deal is currently on ice after it was condemned by Donald Trump.Speaking to the Benny Show podcast, Farage said if he was PM, he would do a deal with Trump over both Chagos and the Falkland Islands.He said: “I’d have gone in and said, ‘Right, you know what mate? Chagos, it’s yours. Diego Garcia, in perpetuity, the most strategic American military base in the world... In return, just please stop talking about the Falkland Islands’.”Responding to his comments, Badenoch said: “It is mad for someone who wants to be prime minister to say we should give away one piece of British territory just to stop an American president talking about another.“The Chagos Islands are British. And the Falklands are British, and will remain British, irrespective of what the American president says. “When Donald Trump is right, we should say so. When he is wrong, we should have the confidence to tell him.“Nigel Farage has made such a huge fuss about defending the Chagos Islands. He calls this making a deal. Giving away British territory in return for someone keeping quiet is not a deal. It is humiliating. There is no pride in our country in the way he talks about us.“This is careless, loose talk from a man who wants to be responsible for Britain’s national security.”But a White Official told The Times: “At no point did anyone in the administration construe Nigel’s comments as suggesting that he was giving away the Chagos Islands.“He was obviously referring to the use of the Diego Garcia military base, which is critical to countering threats from China and Iran.“Anyone claiming otherwise is peddling fake news and undermining the Anglo-American relationship, including, apparently, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch.”A spokesman for Nigel Farage said: “It’s quite clear Nigel was talking about the Americans using Diego Garcia in perpetuity and not the Chagos Islands as a whole. “No one has fought harder to save the Chagos Islands from being given away than Nigel. He has even helped repopulate the islands with Chagossians.”Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.Related...Kemi Badenoch Wants To Boot Burnham Out Of No.10, But First She Needs To Destroy Nigel FarageKemi Badenoch Launches Blistering Attack On Reform Amid 'Englishness' RowKemi Badenoch Hits Back At Suella Braverman's Claim She Can't Be English