‘I’m surprised that the honourable gentleman has the gall to come here and talk about national security…’
A Labour minister has slammed Nigel Farage for using ‘talking points right from the Kremlin’ as the pair clashed over national security in the Commons.
Farage who has previously expressed admiration for Russian dictator Putin, clashed with Labour minister Stephen Doughty, over the government’s decision to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius.
Under the deal, the UK has signed a £3.4bn ($4.6bn) agreement to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control of a UK-US military base on Diego Garcia – the largest of the islands.
Farage told MPs: “Mauritius will not honour the terms of this treaty. Mauritius is poor. It is on the verge of bankruptcy. It will be bought by Chinese money, and China is negotiating leases already.
“If you want further proof of what will upset the American president, Huawei, which of course he railed against getting into the UK’s 5G system, is already installing its ‘safe city’ cameras all over Mauritius. None of this makes any sense.
“I do wonder what the role of our National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, is in all of this.”
But Foreign Office minister Doughty told him: “I’m surprised that the honourable gentleman has the gall to come here and talk about national security today when the former leader of his party in Wales admitted taking bribes from Russia, and when yet again he has been using talking points right from the Kremlin blaming NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Absolutely shameful.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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