Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has finally released a statement after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was blocked from leading an aid mission to the Chagos Islands.
Mr Farage, who shared footage from the Indian Ocean last night, flew to the Maldives with supplies to help four Chagossians who are attempting to establish a permanent base on a deserted island in the archipelago.
The Reform UK leader was carrying vital food and medicines to the archipelago to assist the group trying to establish a settlement.
In a short statement, the Foreign Office insisted it is acting to ensure the safety of the Chagossians.
A spokesman said: “Our primary concern at this point is to ensure the safe departure of a group of individuals from an island that is not fit for human habitation, and on which any health emergencies or extreme weather could pose a serious threat to life.”
GB News also understands the Foreign Office was unaware of Mr Farage’s intended visit before he travelled to the Maldives.
Access to the British Indian Ocean Territory is also restricted, with no commercial flights arriving on the archipelago.
Mr Farage said last night that he received a call from a senior source inside the Maldives Government warning him that British authorities wanted to stop him from setting foot on the island, Île du Coin.
GB News also understands the Foreign Office was unaware of Mr Farage’s intended visit before he travelled to the Maldives
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“The British Government has made every effort to prevent me heading towards the Chagos Islands”, the Reform UK leader told The Telegraph.
“They have asked the Maldives government to stop me from leaving here and setting foot on the boat.
“This was information conveyed to me by a senior figure in the Maldives Government.
Mr Farage added: “I cannot believe such an attempt has been made to stop a British citizen from reaching British territory.
Chagos Islands: key facts | GB NEWS
“My source told me the British were ‘very concerned’ about me and wanted to know why I was here.
“This trip is a humanitarian mission and I don’t want my presence to jeopardise that.”
The establishment of the Diego Garcia military base saw about 2,000 people forcibly removed from the archipelago in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Britain currently owns the islands but signed a treaty last year to cede ownership to Mauritius.
Sir Keir Starmer is under increasing pressure to cancel his Chagos deal
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The deal will cost the UK £35billion over a century, in addition to lease payments for the military base and development funding for Mauritius, which is facing a budget crisis.
However, the UK is looking to remove the four Chagossians who settled on the archipelago earlier this week.
A judge temporarily delayed their removal in yet another legal blow for Sir Keir Starmer.
The Prime Minister is also facing pressure from Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel.
Some 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly removed from the islands during the 1960s and 1970s | PA
Dame Priti is jetting off to Washington to meet US officials and discuss the Chagos deal.
Speaking to GB News ahead of her trip, the Witham MP said: “At this crucial moment for the future of the Chagos Islands, I will be raising the matter with senior officials from the administration and other prominent politicians in the US and making clear how disastrous Keir Starmer’s surrender will be.
“The decision to hand over British sovereign territory and £35billion of taxpayers’ money to an ally of China is appalling and it will undermine not just our national security but that of our allies too, most principally the United States.
“The Conservatives have led the charge against the Chagos Surrender and I will be pushing relentlessly against it when I am in Washington.
“I want to put the nail in the coffin. This deal cannot go ahead without US support. President Trump was right to intervene against it and we will keep fighting it until it is scrapped once and for all.”