Chagos Islands: Divisions in the west benefit Russia, says Scottish secretary

This comes as US President Donald Trump branded the UK’s plans to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “an act of great stupidity”.

Despite his administration previously backing the deal, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.

“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”

Mr Trump also said the deal, which would see the UK leasing a military base on the territory in the Indian Ocean after sovereignty is handed over, is one of the reasons he wants the US to take over the Danish territory of Greenland.

The US president has made clear his desire to acquire the Arctic territory financially, but has not ruled out using force to do so.

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Over the weekend Mr Trump announced he would be imposing more tariffs on the UK and others for opposing his plans to take over Greenland.

On Truth Social, he added: “The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has since said politicians need to see beyond the social media posts and find common ground on this issue, as any division amongst western allies will benefit Russia.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast, Mr Alexander said: “There have been various accounts offered as to the president’s thinking on his approach to Greenland.

“Part of the challenge is differentiating signal from noise.

“When we were negotiating our trade deal last year, people at a senior level gave conflicting accounts as to the rationale for the tariff policy of the US - was it about reindustrialising the heartlands, was it about raising revenue, was it about security concerns?

“You got different accounts on different days, sometimes almost by the hour.

“There are lessons to be drawn from this noise. The approach the UK Government took was not to respond to every passing social media post and instead commit to doing the quiet, hard yards of diplomacy.

“That’s what’s important in this latest barrage of Truth Social posts, to seek de-escalation, lower the temperature and get people around the table.

“If we fail to do that, our adversaries in Moscow will be cheering us on. They want to see the west divided, they want the west weakened and countries turning against each other.

“It is in our national interest to recognise there is a lot of commentary, but we need to find common ground and work together.”

On Tuesday morning Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Prime Minister, also told BBC Breakfast the deal gave the UK “very important security guarantees about the functioning of the island and the seas near it”.

He added: “This is the right way to secure the future of the island and I wouldn’t for a second suggest that Britain should be embarrassed or humiliated by any of those decisions.

“Geopolitics is increasingly volatile, I recognise that, but we shouldn’t be cowed by that.”

However Mr Trump’s comments have been welcomed by some corners of the British political spectrum.

UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump is “right” to voice his opposition to the Chagos Islands deal as it is an act of “self-sabotage”.

Posting on X alongside an image of the US president’s message, Ms Badenoch said: “Paying to surrender the Chagos Islands is not just an act of stupidity, but of complete self-sabotage.

“I’ve been clear and unfortunately on this issue President Trump is right.

“Keir Starmer’s plan to give away the Chagos Islands is a terrible policy that weakens UK security and hands away our sovereign territory.

“And to top it off, makes us and our Nato allies weaker in the face of our enemies.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also posted on X: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos Islands.”

The Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius in 1965 when Mauritius was still a British colony.

The UK purchased the islands for £3 million, but Mauritius said it was illegally forced to give the territory away as part of a deal to gain independence.

Last year the UK agreed a deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while still retaining control of a UK-US military base on Dieago Garcia, the largest island in the territory.

The 99-year agreement to lease back Dieago Garcia will cost the UK £101m a year.

A UK Government spokesman said: “The UK will never compromise on our national security.

“We acted because the base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it operating as intended in future.

“This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out.

“It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all other Five Eyes allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea.”