The Chagos Islands deal is “good value”, the armed forces minister has said, rejecting claims that the Government’s estimation of the overall cost was misleading.
Asked about accusations that the real cost could be more than £30 billion, armed forces minister Luke Pollard told Sky News: “So it’s £3.4 billion over 99 years – that represents good value.
“And it’s also comparable to other allies leasing bases in the region. Djibouti… there’s a base there rented by the French, for instance, that’s 85 million euros that they spend per year there.
“But that base is literally next door to the Chinese naval base that’s leased there. Diego Garcia is 15 times bigger than that French base.”
He added that the UK had secured an “exclusion zone” around the base to protect UK and US operations.
