The Independent focuses on a political angle following news the UK is to hand over the Chagos Islands.
Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly condemned the Chagos Islands deal – despite being the one who initiated talks: Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Tom Tugendhat all in a spat over Conservatives role in handing back the islands.
Former prime minister Liz Truss has hit back at claims that she was responsible for the UK losing the crucial Chagos Islands and claimed it was Boris Johnson’s fault.
An extraordinary row broke out yesterday when Keir Starmer’s government announced it was handing the islands to Mauritius in a deal which guarantees the UK military air base in the Indian Ocean for at least 99 years.
There are fears the deal will open the islands to Chinese interference and undermine Western defence and security in the southern hemisphere.
Shortly after leadership rival and former security minister Tom Tugendhat tweeted it was “disgraceful” that a Tory government had started the talks in what was seen as a pointed remark against Mr Cleverly.
However, the Cleverly camp then responded with a briefing claiming it was Liz Truss who ordered the talks to start when she was prime minister. Mr Cleverly said he had refused to sign the deal over 15 months before Lord David Cameron took over and ditched it altogether. It was claimed Labour foreign secretary David Lammy had revived it in the first three months of government.
But now Ms Truss, who is currently in Australia, has responded and claimed it was Boris Johnson when he was prime minister who ordered her to initiate the process with pre-talks with the then prime minister of Mauritius.