Does FCO statement really reflect govt policy?
The Foreign Office has been writing to Chagossians and supporters saying that the coalition government is against resettlement and will pursue the case at the European Court of Human Rights. But the coordinator of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Chagos has warned that these statements may not be all they seem.
Below is the text of a letter sent by David Snoxell to the New Statesman in response to a blog post by Sean Carey revealing the government’s apparent change of heart.
“Sean Carey assumes (Coalition ditches promise to reverse policy, 27 August) that the Government has taken the decision to maintain the policies of its predecessor and quotes from a letter from the FCO Minister in charge of the Overseas Territories. It is doubtful that this letter represents the views of the Government as a whole and may not even reflect those of the Foreign Secretary who told a constituent on 9 July that he “was very sympathetic to the position of the Islanders and that he would look at the situation over the next few months”. He also said “it appeared that the best solution would be for the Chagos people to return to the outer islands”.
In Opposition both Nick Clegg (“The Government has a responsibility to allow these people to return”) and William Hague (” If elected to serve as the next British Government we will work to ensure a fair settlement of this long standing dispute”) supported the Chagossians, as did several members of the present government. It is doubtful that in mid August they have been consulted. In a letter to the Foreign Secretary in June the Chairman of the Chagos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group, Jeremy Corbyn MP, said he hoped that the Group (which includes several current ministers and former FCO ministers) would soon have a meeting with Mr Bellingham. The purpose of the meeting will be to feed the views of Parliament into the review that the Foreign Secretary is conducting on Chagos policies. This review was not expected to conclude until Parliament returns in October when the meeting will take place. Presumably the Cabinet would then be consulted.”
We’re waiting with great interest to see what the Government does next on this, especially when MPs return from the summer break in a few days time.
