The Defence Secretary was asked about the upsides of “giving away the Chagos Islands” as he spoke at the Royal United Services Institute’s (Rusi) land warfare conference in central London.
Under the terms of the deal, the UK has agreed to pay Mauritius at least £120 million a year for 99 years in order to lease back the Diego Garcia base – a total cost of at least £13 billion in cash terms.
The joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia is seen as vital for western influence in the Indian Ocean, and is also home to important military and intelligence infrastructure.
Britain is ceding control of the archipelago to Mauritius, after the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on the UK’s territorial claim in 2019 saying it should do so.
A £40 million fund has also been established for the Chagossians, who were expelled from the islands between 1965 and 1973 to make way for the Diego Garcia base and have not been allowed to return.
Asked by an audience member at the Rusi conference to set out the benefits of the deal, Mr Healey said: “I mean, that’s a description which is completely wrong.
“What we’ve done is to recognise that there were moves and jeopardy to our ability to continue to operate that sovereign base in an entirely sovereign way, jointly with the US.”
He listed the Trump administration, the UN, and Britain’s Five Eyes intelligence allies among those who backed the deal.
Mr Healey added: “This is the way that we secure our vital military and intelligence interests for the long-term, and this is the way that we secure what is perhaps the most important single contribution to that special relationship in defence and security and intelligence that we have in the US.”
“Did we have to do it?” the same audience member could be heard to ask.
“Yes,” Mr Healey replied.
As he spoke at the conference, Mr Healey also announced the Government was investing £100 million in “new initial funding to develop land drone swarms”.
The swarms will fly alongside Apache helicopters to offer support in battle, Mr Healey said, as part of the UK’s efforts to learn from Ukraine on drone warfare.
