Nigel Farage Under Fire After 'Cheap Stunt' Over Chagos Islands

Nigel Farage has been called out for claiming the Labour government has stopped him from entering the Chagos Islands.

Labour is trying to give the archipelago to Mauritius, while paying the country £9 billion over the next 99 years so it can lease the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

But the move has sparked outrage from Donald Trump in recent days, even though the US president initially backed the deal.

On Friday, he called Keir Starmer’s plan a “big mistake”, predicting it would a “blight” on the UK.

Trump supporter Farage now appears to have flown to the Indian Ocean in a bid to access the overseas territory.

But, in a video posted on X from the Maldives, the Reform UK leader claimed he had been blocked from entering the Chagos Islands.

He claimed: “The British government are applying pressure on the president and the government of the Maldives to do everything within their power to stop me from getting on that boat and going to the islands.

“If I was an Isis fighter, crossing the Channel to Dover, they wouldn’t give a damn!”

But, as the gov.uk website explains, the territory has restricted access and anyone entering needs to have a permit.

“The British Indian Ocean Territory is not a tourist destination,” it says. “There are no commercial flights, access is restricted and you need a permit before you travel.”

This information was also added by fellow X users below the video in a community note in a humiliating moment for Farage.

Even so, Reform MP Robert Jenrick reposted Farage’s clip with the caption: “The one boat Starmer has stopped? The one taking Nigel Farage to the Chagos Islands.”

The Treasury spokesperson was alluding to the small boats crisis, which Reform claims they would be able to stop with detention and deportation.

But Jenrick’s former colleague, ex-Tory defence secretary Ben Wallace called him out, writing: “Robert you and i know both know this is a cheap stunt, There are strict rules and permits about who can visit.

“Pub bores like Farage need to fill in a form! And the island base is full of serious people doing serious things. So perhaps he should get back to Clacton.”

Wallace was not alone in condemning the post. Plenty of X users called out Farage for travelling well outside of his Clacton constituency...