Why did the government sign the Chagos deal now?

In a fast-moving world, suffused by struggle and governmental uncertainty, it mightiness look unusual for the UK authorities to surrender sovereign British territory successful a distant sea.

Indeed, the government's critics spell further and accidental the determination to springiness up a cardinal strategical foothold successful the Indian Ocean is simply a unsafe weakening of UK security.

So wherefore has the authorities handed the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a federation immoderate 1000 miles away?

The reply has a ineligible root and a applicable conclusion.

It each focuses connected the associated UK-US subject basal connected the biggest land successful the archipelago, Diego Garcia.

The authorities felt that without ceding sovereignty to Mauritius, the cognition of the basal would go unworkable and that would airs a greater menace to UK security.

Defence Secretary John Healey told MPs that "without this deal, wrong weeks, we could look losing ineligible rulings and wrong conscionable a fewer years the basal would go inoperable".

The putative ineligible situation is based connected a bid of judgements by assorted United Nations bodies that the Chagos Islands beryllium to Mauritius.

Essentially, they argued the UK had nary ineligible close to abstracted the islands from Mauritius earlier the erstwhile British colony became autarkic successful the 1960s.

There were votes to that effect successful the UN General Assembly.

But past successful 2019 determination was an "advisory opinion" by the UN's International Court of Justice backed up by a later ruling of the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Ministers feared these rulings and opinions would soon go a legally binding judgement by this UN tribunal.

Under unit successful the House of Commons to place the root of this ineligible threat, Healey said: "There's a scope of planetary ineligible challenges and rulings against us.

"The astir proximate, the astir perchance serious, is the tribunal of the International Convention of the Sea."

If the authorities mislaid a lawsuit there, ministers argue, the extracurricular satellite would beryllium obliged - by instrumentality - to instrumentality decisions that would interfere successful the moving of the base.

So they reason Diego Garcia's outer communications would beryllium threatened due to the fact that the UK relies connected a UN authorization successful Geneva to get entree to a peculiar electromagnetic spectrum.

They accidental contractors would garbage to sojourn the isolated basal - to marque repairs oregon present supplies - for fearfulness of being sued by Mauritius.

The quality to alert craft successful and retired mightiness beryllium challenged by planetary rules that govern our skies.

The government's critics – which see Conservative and Reform MPs, immoderate overseas diplomats and adjacent a fewer officials wrong Whitehall – situation this statement and accidental the ineligible menace is being exaggerated.

They impeach ministers of being overly submissive to planetary lawyers and craven to politically motivated votes astatine the UN.

Shadow defence caput James Cartlidge told MPs the authorities was "following the ineligible proposal to enactment definitively to our detriment, wholly connected the ground of hypothetical hazard that has not yet materialised and which we could challenge".

The government's 2nd statement is that without a deal, China would get a toehold successful the islands.

Officials accidental that successful the lack of an agreement, determination would beryllium nary ineligible prohibition preventing Mauritius allowing a overseas powerfulness to found a subject oregon different beingness successful the islands.

Under the presumption of the deal, the UK tin efficaciously veto that happening.

The UK claims that without the deal, it would person nary alternate but to endanger subject unit if China tried to acceptable up a subject installation connected 1 of the islands.

Officials besides reason that Mauritius, by being paid rent for the islands, has nary fiscal inducement to unfastened them up to Chinese investment.

The government's critics antagonistic that for each these safeguards, the Mauritian authorities whitethorn good nevertheless inactive make person ties with China – and perchance adjacent Russia.

The government's broader statement is diplomatic.

For years the UK has been accused by person and foe alike of hypocrisy; for making the lawsuit for planetary instrumentality connected the satellite signifier but ignoring it with respect to the Chagos islands.

How could the UK criticise Russia for breaking planetary instrumentality successful Ukraine and China successful the South China Sea if it was itself breaking the rules successful the Indian Ocean?

Ministers besides argued that astatine a clip of geopolitical uncertainty, erstwhile aged allies were little reliable and caller partnerships had to beryllium formed, the Chagos enactment was a diplomatic boil than needed to beryllium lanced.

It was notable the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a connection welcoming the deal, saying it demonstrated "the worth of diplomacy successful addressing humanities grievances".

Again, the government's critics quality this conclusion, arguing the satellite has changed, and that we unrecorded successful a clip erstwhile "might is right" and adjacent adherence to the good people of planetary instrumentality is outdated and a geopolitical indulgence.

Would US President Donald Trump oregon French President Emmanuel Macron, they ask, springiness up territories overseas?

The government's effect to that situation is to accidental that the US - which mostly runs and pays for Diego Garcia - present supports the woody with Mauritius, contempt earlier doubts.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "following a broad inter-agency review, the Trump Administration determined that this statement secures the long-term, stable, and effectual cognition of the associated US-UK subject installation astatine Diego Garcia".

Other members of the Five Eyes quality confederation besides backmost the agreement; the basal is simply a immense hub for the speech of planetary signals intelligence.

These issues volition present beryllium tested successful Parliament arsenic MPs see whether to ratify the agreement.

The authorities whitethorn triumph the ballot due to the fact that of its majority.

But it has yet to triumph the argument.