Labour has sparked fury after it failed to invite a representative from the Chagos Islands to Remembrance Sunday following its controversial decision to hand over sovereignty.
Major controversy already surrounds Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to hand the islands over to Mauritius after years of negotiations.
And now Labour has been accused of “betraying” the Chagos Islanders by not inviting them despite their contribution in World War II.
Remembrance Sunday saw a dozen of representatives from British Overseas Territories (BOT) lay down wreaths of the Cenotaph, the UK’s National Service of Remembrance.
Representatives from Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, the Pitcairn Islands, St Helena, Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha, and the Turks and Caicos Islands laid wreaths at the Cenotaph.
This is to recognise the vital role that their citizens had played in both World Wars.
The Prime Minister has now come under fire for failing to offer anyone from the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia, the opportunity to lay a wreath.
A spokesperson for Chagossian Voices, Jean-Francois Nellan, told GB News how Labour snubbed the islands.
“Unfortunately, no representative or anyone from the community was asked to attend the laying of wreathes at the Cenotaph,” he said.
Nellan added: “My grandmother, who was born on Diego Garcia – and is still alive – helped the injured troops at the infirmary,
“The Chagossians were helping the allies on the islands in case the Germans attacked.”
The historic move to hand over sovereignty from the UK to Mauritius has seen decades of fractious negotiations between the two countries.
The deal was moved forward due to the US-UK base being able to remain on Diego Garcia, the biggest of the islands. The military base is used for navy ships and long-range bomber aircrafts.
Sir Keir Starmer claimed the deal was necessary to secure the rights of the UK and US to continue to operate a military base on the island.
However, the move has sparked anger from the Government’s opposition with Shadow Foreign Secretary, Dame Priti Patel, pressing Labour to reverse the “surrender” of the archipelago in the wake of Donald Trump’s win last win.
Speaking to The Times, Dame Priti said: “In their haste to surrender the Chagos Islands, Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy have shown how weak and feeble this Labour Government is.
“With the election of President Trump, we now have an opportunity to review this decision and work constructively with the new US administration to ensure that our defence is always put first.”
