MP Left Fuming After Being Silenced in Chagos Islands Debate and Reveals What She Was Going to Say

An MP has spoken out in frustration after being barred from taking part in a key debate on the Government’s controversial treaty over the Chagos Islands. Scheduled to speak on Monday, she travelled from Belfast well ahead of time but was caught out by travel delays including a 10-minute wait at Baker Street station — and arrived just three minutes after the debate started. Despite the circumstances, the Government whips refused to let her speak.

The MP didn’t mince her words, calling the situation ironic given she had made the trip to speak on behalf of a silenced community, only to be silenced herself.

She had planned to focus her remarks on the treatment of Chagossians living in the UK. As a parliamentary advisor to the Friends of the British Overseas Territories, she’s had direct conversations with many in the Chagossian community and described them as genuine, passionate, and proud, reported the Express.

Among them was Bernadette Dugasse, who made it clear she never had, and never would, identify as Mauritian. Then there’s Misley Mandarin, a former member of the British armed forces, who spoke of the Government’s lack of meaningful engagement with the Chagossians both before and after the treaty was signed — limited to a couple of Zoom calls, which she called disgraceful. Misley is now pursuing a judicial review against the treaty.

Another voice was Frankie Bontemps, who asked for three things: the right to self-determination, the right to return home, and the right to dignity. According to the MP, the Government has completely ignored these pleas, just as the Labour Government did when the Chagossians were first removed from their homeland in the 1960s.

The MP stressed that she felt compelled to amplify their voices because, in her words, “they have not been heard anywhere in this squalid deal”.

She also highlighted the claim, made by Mauritius, that Chagossians support the handover – something she says is simply not true. Many Chagossians who ended up in Mauritius after being displaced reportedly face second-class treatment if they publicly identify as Chagossian.

She pointed to a recent letter from the International Relations and Defence Committee, dated 26 June, which was sent to the Foreign Secretary. It stated clearly that this was a political decision, not a legal obligation — undermining the Government’s claims that their hands were tied.

The MP argued that the Prime Minister of Mauritius may well see this as a “great victory,” saying it completes the process of decolonisation. But she noted with frustration that the only mention of Chagossians in the treaty is a Trust Fund, which is to be controlled by Mauritius and funded by the UK — with no provision for Chagossians living here.

Even the United Nations, she pointed out, has expressed concern over how the Chagossians have been treated, something she said should trouble any Government that claims to respect international law.

From the treaty’s costs and its impact on national security to the absence of any real plan for environmental protection in such a vital area, she argued there’s plenty wrong with the deal. But even if none of that were true, she insisted the treaty should be dropped purely because of the disgraceful way the Chagossian people have been treated — denied a voice, denied the right to return, and denied dignity. If the Government won’t act, she said, perhaps the courts will.

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