The proposed transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands from the United Kingdom to Mauritius has been presented as a moral necessity and an overdue act of historical redress. This talk challenges that framing. It argues that the policy is legally questionable, strategically reckless, and politically naïve, and that it risks setting a dangerous precedent for British sovereignty, defence partnerships, and constitutional integrity. Chagos is not a marginal colonial footnote, but a live test of whether the United Kingdom still takes its own national interests seriously.

• Why the government’s moral framing of the Chagos decision is incomplete and misleading, and the questions it raises.
• Why giving up British territory raises serious questions about law, Parliament, and accountability.
• How the Chagos Islands fit into long-standing UK and allied defence arrangements, and why this still matters.
• The wider strategic risks of transferring sovereignty to Mauritius, including the wider precedents it may set.
• What this decision signals about Britain’s willingness to defend its interests in an increasingly unstable world.
• Why the Chagos issue matters beyond this single case, and what it reveals about the UK’s approach to sovereignty and statecraft both abroad and at home.