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Former prime minister Liz Truss has hit again at claims that she was answerable for the UK dropping the essential Chagos Islands and claimed it was Boris Johnson’s fault.
A unprecedented row broke out yesterday when Keir Starmer’s authorities introduced it was handing the islands to Mauritius in a deal which ensures the UK army air base within the Indian Ocean for a minimum of 99 years.
There are fears the deal will open the islands to Chinese language interference and undermine Western defence and safety within the southern hemisphere.
Because the information broke, former overseas secretary now management candidate James Cleverly tweeted “weak, weak, weak” in regards to the deal. But it surely rapidly emerged he had initiated the talks which led to the settlement when he was within the Overseas Workplace.
Shortly after management rival and former safety minister Tom Tugendhat tweeted it was “disgraceful” {that a} Tory authorities had began the talks in what was seen as a pointed comment towards Mr Cleverly.
Nonetheless, the Cleverly camp then responded with a briefing claiming it was Liz Truss who ordered the talks to begin when she was prime minister. Mr Cleverly stated he had refused to signal the deal over 15 months earlier than Lord David Cameron took over and ditched it altogether. It was claimed Labour overseas secretary David Lammy had revived it within the first three months of presidency.
However now Ms Truss, who’s at present in Australia, has responded and claimed it was Boris Johnson when he was prime minister who ordered her to provoke the method with pre-talks with the then prime minister of Mauritius.
Her spokesman stated: “It was Boris Johnson who requested Liz to speak to prime minister Jugnauth about this at COP26, which she did. However she was completely clear that we’d and will by no means cede the territory.”
In the meantime, Labour informed The Unbiased that they had no alternative however to signal the deal due to the authorized mess left by the Tories.
The supply stated: “Labour inherited a authorized automobile crash that might have left this very important army base within the arms of the court docket, damaging UK and US nationwide safety. James Cleverly and the Tories tried and failed in 11 rounds of negotiations, placing our nationwide safety pursuits in danger.
“The brand new authorities did the deal to safe the bottom and shut off a possible unlawful migration route. You wouldn’t get the US president applauding the deal if it put US pursuits in danger.”