Nigel Farage has been hailed as the Chagossians’ closest ally while islanders call on the Prime Minister to step down from his role for good.
Chagossian campaigner Vanessa Calou sat down on GB News to rip into Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the Chagos Islands after the premier refused to let the islanders have their say on the fate of their homeland.
As it stands, Labour will hand over the archipelago to Chinese ally Mauritius – while paying the nation some £101million per year to lease back the US-UK military base over the next 99 years.
Ms Calou told GB News the Reform UK leader, who has consistently railed against Sir Keir’s deal, would do a “better job” at handling the chaos engulfing the current deal.
Her words on the People’s Channel came just hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles towards the territory on Friday, hours after the PM gave the US permission to use the joint base to target Tehran’s missile sites.
Neither of the missiles hit the base, but the launch represents the longest-range attack by Iran since the start of “Operation Epic Fury”.
One of the missiles is said to have failed mid-flight, while an American destroyer fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other.
However, Ms Calou, whose brother and father are still on the islands, did not fear for their safety due to her confidence in the US-UK military there.
Ms Calou still felt Sir Keir had been too slow off the bat in defending the base
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But she still felt Sir Keir had been too slow off the mark, calling for the PM to resign and “put someone who can do the job firmly because British people are at stake and our homeland is at risk”.
“He’s continued with giving away our homeland and that is weakening our alliance to the US,” Ms Calou slammed. “So he needs to stop and then put British people first, our heritage and value. He needs to resign now.”
“We’ve been saying for a long time that we need to protect our homeland, our British heritage,” the campaigner told presenter Dawn Neesom.
“And this is what happening, if we have a Government which fails on its duty, this is a direct attack from the British people on the British homeland, British overseas territory and in England as well.
LATEST ON LABOUR’S ‘SURRENDER’ DEAL:
Ms Calou slammed Sir Keir Starmer for attempting to hand over the Chagos Islands
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“We need to work like closely with our allies to be able to resolve this issue. This is really, really concerning because we have a Prime Minister who’s not taking accountability for what he’s doing,” she blasted.
She went on to declare: “The deal must be U-turned now and start protecting British people in their homeland and start protecting our British heritage.”
Now Diego Garcia has been dragged into the escalating Iran war, she said she “had faith” the UK-US military base will continue to defend itself – but “weak” Sir Keir is “blocking” the base’s progression.
“He needs to get someone else to do the job, not him,” Ms Calou bluntly put to Dawn.
Asked who would be able to do a “good job”, the campaigner told the GB News star the Reform UK leader would be her choice.
Mr Farage has regularly spoken out in defence of the Chagossians’ desire to keep their homeland under British sovereignty, coordinating with top US officials to campaign the President on the issue.
Last month, Mr Farage attended the congregation of world leaders in Davos, where he was believed to have dined with the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
A few weeks on, the Reform leader joined an aid mission to deliver food, medicine and vital supplies to a small group of Chagossians establishing a permanent base on a deserted island, Ile du Coin.
However, he claimed he was “denied access” – while critics blasted the Clacton MP for “Maga stunts”.
Ex-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace explained MPs are only allowed to set foot on the archipelago having undergone pre-clearance checks.
Mr Wallace slammed: “It is a serious military base which does serious work. It doesn’t need a pub bore like Nigel (who didn’t even appoint a defence spokesman this week) performing Maga stunts.”