Keir Starmer defends Chagos Islands deal after Boris Johnson accuses Labour of ‘sheer political correctness’ – UK politics live

PM says deal ensures continuation of UK-US military base on the islands and has been welcomed with ‘warm words’ by US

Jonathan Powell, who was leading negotiations for the new government with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands, offered a robust defence of the government’s agreement in media appearances this morning.

Saying it had been a long process, involving 13 rounds of negotiations, he pointed out that 11 of them had been under the previous Conservative government, and singled out Tory leadership hopeful James Cleverly for praise, saying “I think he deserves credit for starting those negotiations and leading them enthusiastically for quite a long time.”

The Americans have been intimately involved in the negotiations. Every single sentence and paragraph has been through an interagency process, all of the process, all of the agencies in Washington, we’ve agreed to all of it and secured all of their red lines in that negotiation.

I will be voting for the assisted dying Bill. Obviously it will be a free vote for Members of Parliament. These are very complex and difficult issues and there are very respectable views on both sides.

For my part, I know there are people who are in the late stages of terminal illnesses, and I think the current situation is rather cruel actually.

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