In October 2024, the then new Labour government announced that it was handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Moreover, Labour’s determination to follow international law, at the expense of Britain’s national interest, looks more foolish by the day. Someone needs to tell prime minister Starmer that the world is not currently auditing who is complying with international law. In the colonial era, the Chagos Islands were administered from Mauritius, despite being around 2,000km away. States have always interpreted and applied international law selectively in pursuit of their national interests.