Most Potentially Serious

The Epstein Files show Steve Bannon professing his admiration for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon while conspiring successfully with Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage to overthrow Theresa May in favour of Boris Johnson. Johnson’s fan club is now taking over at every level the Reform UK that Yaxley-Lennon has endorsed at Gorton and Denton, with the go-to commentator on every such defection being Rees-Mogg, who always says just too little about his own intentions.

Rees-Mogg should consider that at the same time as he was plotting with Bannon, Bannon was plotting to depose the then Pope. Christian Nationalism is as heretical as the Christian Zionism that Tucker Carlson has just demolished in his devastating interview of the hopelessly out-of-his-depth Mike Huckabee.

But tomorrow, we shall be treated to Laura Kuenssberg’s latest “interview” of her beloved Johnson, in which he will call for British troops on the ground in Ukraine, where they obviously already are. No former Prime Minister would issue such a call except as an outrider for the Government. Yet, as Genevieve Holl-Allen writes:

The Defence Secretary has been accused by the Conservatives of misleading Parliament by saying Britain faced legal threats about the Chagos Islands.

John Healey said in May that the Government faced a legal challenge “within weeks” if it did not agree to the handover to Mauritius of the islands, including the Diego Garcia military base.

He told MPs the “most potentially serious” threat came from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which handles maritime disputes. But the Government has now admitted there is an exception to United Nations maritime laws for “disputes concerning military activities”.

The Tories said this admission showed Labour’s legal arguments in favour of handing over the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius had “completely collapsed”.

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, said: “When John Healey claimed that we were ‘weeks away’ from losing legal challenges, he will have known this was simply untrue.”

James Cartlidge says the Defence Secretary would have known his claims about a legal threat were untrue Credit: Belinda Jiao Sir Keir Starmer signed a handover deal with Mauritius last May. As part of the deal, Britain will rent back Diego Garcia at a cost of more than £30bn for the next 99 years.

Announcing the handover last year, Mr Healey told the Commons: “Without action – without this deal – within weeks we could face losing legal rulings, and within just a few years the base would become inoperable.

“Some have suggested simply ignoring international legal decisions, but this is not just about international law; this is about the direct impact of law on our ability to control and operate this base.”

When asked about the nature of the legal threats, he said: “There are a range of international legal challenges and rulings against us. The most proximate, and the most potentially serious, is the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.”

But the Foreign Office confirmed last week that it stood by Article 298 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which carves out an exemption for military bases.

According to Article 298, the exemption covers “disputes concerning military activities, including military activities by government vessels and aircraft engaged in non-commercial service”.

This is the second legal argument Labour has put forward in favour of acting to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands which has been undermined.

It emerged last year the UK could not be forced to surrender its secure communications channels on Diego Garcia, despite claims from Downing Street.

The Government is in a legal stand-off with a small group of Chagossians who returned to their homeland this week. Misley Mandarin, the Chagossian first minister, and three others were issued with eviction orders, but won an injunction to temporarily stay on Île du Coin.

Senior Conservative and Reform UK politicians have been lobbying Donald Trump after the Government said it would not press ahead with the islands’ handover without US support.

In recent weeks, Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith have reportedly been pressing the case against the deal with the White House. Liz Truss, who met Donald Trump in Florida last weekend, was reported to have handed him a dossier outlining the case against the deal.

Mr Trump himself has alternated between supporting the deal and opposing it.

This week, he launched a fresh attack on the deal, writing on Truth Social: “We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism and other problems put before them. DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”

The outburst is believed to have taken place after Sir Keir blocked Mr Trump from using RAF bases to strike Iran. The US is putting together plans for a direct attack on Iran, with long-range bombing and refuelling aircraft sent to the Middle East in recent days.

Mr Cartlidge has written to Mr Healey to demand an explanation of why the Defence Secretary made the UNCLOS claims last year, and for the legal advice he received to be published.

In the letter, seen by The Telegraph, Mr Cartlidge wrote: “As this exemption remains, it must surely remove any legal threat to British sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.”

He added: “Labour’s legal arguments over Chagos have completely collapsed – the international law they have been hiding behind has an exemption for military bases.

“So, when John Healey claimed that we were ‘weeks away’ from losing legal challenges, he will have known this was simply untrue. As such, I’ve written to the Defence Secretary to demand answers.”

The Ministry of Defence has been approached for comment.