Chagos Islands: International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office – in the House of Commons at on 14 May 2019.

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Photo of Patrick Grady Patrick Grady SNP Chief Whip

It must be difficult for Foreign Office Ministers to find the UK’s colonial legacy landing inconveniently in their laps, but what is at stake here is not just Chagossian justice, but the UK’s standing in the new post-Brexit world order. The UK must get on board and work with, not against, the UN, the ICJ and the rules-based order. It has to recognise that it cannot throw its weight around anymore. Will the Department engage constructively with the UN to determine where sovereignty really lies for the Chagossians and, ultimately, accept that sovereignty should lie with the people?