Chagos Islands, an arhipelago in the Indian Ocean, was just handed back over to Mauritius by UK. This was revealed by Nigel Farage, the Reform UK Leader, where he descrbed the decision as a "strategic disaster" where "our American allies will be furious and Beijing delighted."
Farage also criticized Sir Keir Starmer for "making the world a more dangerous place".
His remarks came after the decision to end 200 years of British rule was announced at 11.04 A.M. with just the ping of an email alert.
In a humdrum press release titled "UK-Mauritius deal to protect national security", the Foreign Office revealed that the UK was giving away the strategic archipelago.
With Parliament still in its post-conference slumber, the timing meant that David Lammy avoided having to unveil the move in the Commons cauldron. This announcement was seemingly rushed out with just days of recess to get ahead of the Mauritian election campaign, which starts in a few days.
As such it came as a shock to much of the outside world, which had not been expecting the new Labour government to wrap up a deal so quickly.
It was, after all, only nine months since Lord Cameron, the former foreign secretary, had halted talks on the handover amid security concerns over Chinese influence.
Chagos, at a strategic waypoint in the Indian Ocean, is home to the Diego Garcia air base, which is a major military asset for both Britain and the US in the region.
The archipelago has been in British hands for more than 200 years but is claimed by Mauritius, an island nation which lies almost 1,400 miles away.
Under the Tories those claims were initially entertained, but then rejected over concerns about the influence China wields on the Mauritian government. However, since sweeping to power in July, the Labour government had moved swiftly to sew up a deal, manoeuvring all the key pieces into place.
Last month the Foreign Secretary drafted in Jonathan Powell, a foreign policy veteran of the Tony Blair years, to oversee the final negotiations.