'Traitor Starmer must resign!' Chagos Islanders' fury at prison threat
The Daily T
The Telegraph
4.1 • 705 Ratings
🗓️ 18 February 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
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Summary
Keir Starmer has served a group of Chagos Islanders who landed by boat on the territory on Tuesday with an eviction notice, threatening them with a three-year prison term if they don’t leave.
The Chagossians who returned are protesting against the government handing the islands back to Mauritius, and include the elected first minister Misley Mandarin.
Camilla and Tim speak to Chagos campaigner and sister of Mr Mandarin, Vanessa Calou, who says that Starmer has “given away our island without consulting the British people” and calls the Prime Minister “disgusting” and a “traitor” who must resign.
They also attend Robert Jenrick’s first press conference as “shadow” chancellor, and ask whether Reform have abandoned radical policy ideas in an effort not to spook the markets.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph |
| 0:02.0 | Jegos Islanders who have returned to their own homeland have been threatened by Kirstama with eviction and prison if they don't leave. |
| 0:18.0 | We speak to the sister of one of the Chagosans who landed on the beach, |
| 0:21.8 | who tells us the Prime Minister is disgusting and must resign. |
| 0:26.2 | Also, Reform's new shadow chancellors said he will diffuse the benefits bomb |
| 0:30.9 | in a speech that could easily have been delivered by a Tory. |
| 0:33.9 | We grilled both Robert Jenrick and Nigel Farage about whether their plans have |
| 0:38.5 | dropped populism on purpose so they don't spook the markets. Welcome to the Daily Tea with me, |
| 0:43.9 | Tim Stanley. And me, Camilla Tominy. Camilla, as everybody knows, the Labour government has negotiated the return in inverted |
| 1:00.9 | commas of the Czechos Islands to Mauritius. They were never part of Mauritius. The people |
| 1:05.1 | who lived on the islands until the 1960s were kicked off as part of the process of establishing a US and UK air base. |
| 1:13.3 | And those people, having suffered that great injustice, made far worse by having to live in Crawley near Gatwick Airport, |
| 1:19.5 | those people have now been dealt a double injustice because the government has decided that that territory should go to Mauritius. |
| 1:26.9 | Yes. |
| 1:32.1 | Well, the Chagosians, great, brave people that they are, who want to remain British, |
| 1:36.9 | some of them have actually travelled to the island in an attempt to return. |
| 1:42.9 | Now, what would be a British government's response to British people travelling to a British territory, which anyone would reasonably |
| 1:45.2 | say they have a right to do. |
| 1:46.8 | You'd hope it would be, plant your flag, have a cup of tea and a roast dinner and enjoy |
| 1:52.0 | yourself. |
| 1:53.0 | Especially given that this Prime Minister was formerly Director of Public Prosecutions |
| 1:58.0 | and a great believer in human rights. |
... |
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