Keir Starmer is in hot water after being accused of misleading the British public over the eye-watering cost of handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius — and trying to cover it up with statistical trickery.
The Labour PM was slammed for peddling what critics branded “fantasy figures” as he signed away the British territory in the Indian Ocean — while agreeing to rent back a key military base we already had.
‘Sir Shifty’ claimed the deal would cost £101 million a year — a “bargain” £3.4 billion over 99 years. But experts say the real bill is a huge £30 billion, thanks to inflation and extra handouts to Mauritius.
Now Starmer’s been reported to the official statistics watchdog, with furious Tories demanding answers over what they call a “statistical sleight of hand”.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge fired off a letter to UK Statistics Authority boss Sir Robert Chote, accusing the PM of “misuse of statistics”.
He fumed: “This figure is inaccurate. Independent analysis suggests the true cost of the deal is likely to be in excess of £30 billion.”
“That’s a difference of £27 billion – a substantial amount that could mislead the public about the real financial cost.”
Even the maths behind the PM’s dodgy discounting – called the “social time preference rate” – has come under fire.
Cartlidge blasted: “The Prime Minister has misrepresented the figure by stating it is a net cost when it is actually a calculation of social time preference.
“It’s a statistical con trick – and a clear breach of the code of practice.”
Starmer’s government has not even published the full methodology, a move critics say further stinks of a cover-up.
Cartlidge added: “The Government’s failure to publish the statistical methodology appears to be in breach of the code.”
Firing another rocket at Starmer’s credibility, he said: “I ask you to investigate whether the Prime Minister’s figure follows the code of practice on statistics to make sure that public confidence is upheld.”
Senior Tories and Reform UK lined up to pile on the pressure yesterday.
Dame Priti Patel said: “Labour are lying to British taxpayers with their made-up numbers and dodgy accounting. The true reality of these costs is frightening.”
“We’re now bound by treaty to pay for the indignity of the surrender and line Mauritius’s coffers. This surrender tax could hit a staggering £30 BILLION.”
Penny Mordaunt, ex-defence secretary, warned: “In atoning for our colonial ‘wrongs’, Labour have enabled China’s colonial future.”
“The deal doesn’t secure the base and will hit military operations. It restricts where we place sensors, requires us to share defence planning with Mauritius and raises confusion over spectrum management.”
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory boss, was blunt: “This is a terrible agreement. Future operations are now in jeopardy. Mauritius will be able to interfere. A weak deal from a weak Government.”
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