Britain’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands should be sunk, says former Thatcher aide

BRITAIN’S deal to hand over the Chagos Islands should be sunk “the way Margaret Thatcher sank the Belgrano”, her former aide has declared.

Pressure is mounting on PM Sir Keir Starmer to tear up his plan to hand over the British Overseas Territory to Mauritius.

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Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, urged US President-elect Donald Trump to intervene.

He told The Sun on Sunday: “The Chagos islands deal is a complete surrender to China by the Starmer Government.

“It is my firm hope that the new US administration will strongly oppose this deal.

"Many US conservatives have been horrified by what Britain has done.”

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“And I do think that this issue will be an important foreign policy priority for the new regime in the US.

“My strong recommendation to the US President and his advisers is to sink this deal in the same way my former boss Margaret Thatcher sank the Belgrano.”

The Argentine ship, the General Belgrano, was sunk by the Royal Navy in the Falklands War.

The Government has defended its Chagos deal.

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It said it protects the US military base of Diego Garcia and was backed by the Biden administration.

It is not expected to be voted on by Parliament until next year, after Mr Trump’s inauguration.