Farage Claims Starmer Government Sought to Block Maldives Trip

Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Reform Party and a Member of Parliament, has claimed that the British government attempted to pressure the Maldives to obstruct his recent visit, as geopolitical tensions over the future of the Chagos Islands continue to unfold.

In a video shared on his socials, Farage said that he arrived in the Maldives last week carrying supplies intended for humanitarian assistance. He had reportedly been working to dispatch a vessel delivering essential food, medicine and other aid.

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In the video, Farage alleged that the administration of Prime Minister Keir Starmer had been applying pressure on the Maldivian government and President Mohamed Muizzu to prevent his efforts.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Farage said a senior Maldivian government official informed him of the alleged concerns.

“I cannot believe that such an effort would be made to prevent a British citizen from travelling to a British territory. According to my source, the British state is ‘deeply concerned’ about me and wanted to clarify exactly why we had come here,” Farage was quoted as saying.

In the same video, Farage questioned why the Starmer government was pursuing the transfer of the Chagos Islands, claiming that India had already secured a substantial economic agreement with Mauritius in anticipation of a handover. He further alleged that China was “deep in Mauritius” and planning to develop a smart city there.

“There will be a geopolitical battle for this part of the world, which has been settled ever since the end of the Second World War. And I guess that the Maldives government do not want this to become a political football between India and China,” Farage said.

The controversy comes as the Maldives has signalled interest in the wider debate over sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago, placing Malé within a complex geopolitical discussion involving the United Kingdom, Mauritius and the United States, amid intensifying strategic competition in the Indian Ocean.

While the UK maintains that international legal processes recognise Mauritius as the rightful sovereign of the archipelago, President Muizzu has indicated that the Maldives has historical and strategic ties that it believes warrant consideration.

In an interview with Newsweek, Muizzu said that if the Maldives’ claim were to advance, the interests of displaced Chagossians must be taken into account. He acknowledged their historical links to the Maldives and their forced removal during the establishment of the military base on Diego Garcia.

However, when questioned earlier this month by Anadolu Agency, the UK Foreign Office stated that the sovereignty dispute over Chagos lies between the UK and Mauritius.

According to Anadolu, the Foreign Office said that numerous courts and international institutions have made clear that the question of sovereignty is a bilateral matter between London and Port Louis.

The Foreign Office further noted that an agreement reached with Mauritius contains strict provisions to protect Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago and a joint US-UK military base. It said the arrangement was necessary to ensure the base’s continued operation and security.

Under the agreement signed in May last year, the UK has accepted that Chagos belongs to Mauritius and will transfer sovereignty, while leasing Diego Garcia back to the UK for 99 years. Work is ongoing to implement the terms of the deal.