"When Kemi Badenoch met Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, on Monday evening, she pressed him on two issues: the Chagos Islands deal and North Sea oil drilling. Neither participant was part of their respective executive branch, and neither issue was at the centre of the crisis that has engulfed transatlantic politics. But before long, the meeting had some very real political consequences."
"President Trump deployed words on Chagos yesterday that were different to his previous words of welcome and support. He deployed those words for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain, the prime minister told the Commons. He wants me to yield on my position, and I'm not going to do so I will not yield. Britain will not yield on our principles and values about the future of Greenland and the threats of tariffs."
Kemi Badenoch met Mike Johnson and pressed him on the Chagos Islands deal and North Sea oil drilling. The meeting, between non-executive officials, triggered a chain of events: Johnson called Donald Trump, Trump launched a social media attack on the Chagos deal, and Keir Starmer publicly rebuked Trump. The prime minister said Trump used different words on Chagos to pressure Britain and insisted Britain would not yield on its principles, values, Greenland's future, or to threats of tariffs. Downing Street was initially blindsided, prompting a more combative UK stance. The October 2024 deal transfers Chagos sovereignty to Mauritius while preserving a 99-year lease for Diego Garcia, costing an estimated 3.4bn and said to have been agreed under US pressure.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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