Derrick Wyatt's Law and Policy Blog
Derrick Wyatt KC, retired academic and lawyer
EU law, international law, constitutional law
Politics
Writes on law and policy at https://derrickwyatt.substack.co
- www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/... Trump backs Chagos deal but says Diego Garcia base must never be undermined by "fake claims or environmental nonsense." (FYI - under the deal Mauritius retains sovereignty over environmental issues BUT Mauritius can only exercise under conditions agreed with the UK)
- Starmer’s Chagos treaty secures Diego Garcia and the whole Archipelago Nuclear armed aircraft could fly from Diego Garcia, which would be surrounded by its own seaspace and airspace, and the UK could exclude foreign forces and deal with emergent threats throughout the Archipelago Blog soon
- www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/... Trump looking to back Starmer's Chagos Island deal - again (The deal has teeth most opponents don't mention. Such as a UK veto on foreign security forces including civilians throughout the whole Chagos Archipelago plus UK/US rights to patrol the entire area)
- www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f... A customs union with the UK would be good for the EU, because it would allow the EU to offer the UK market tariff-free to potential EU trading partners But the EU could not offer the UK tariff-free access to the markets of those partners A bad option for the UK
- derrickwyatt.substack.com/p/a-trump-ta... A Trump takeover of the Chagos Islands is always a possibility Starmer’s Chagos deal safeguards US interests – even on nuclear weapons – but if Trump objects the deal has to stay on hold writes @blogwyatt.bsky.social
- might interest @campolis.bsky.social
- moderndiplomacy.eu/2026/02/02/n... Trump still pressuring Denmark for ownership and control of Greenland The US has isolated Denmark and Greenland in talks which should include NATO countries with High North responsibilities to seek a solution within the framework of NATO defence plans
- Not quite, Senator Under the new deal the UK could patrol at sea and in the air throughout the Chagos Islands, and ban and stop Chinese spy boats anywhere in the Chagos Islands, Chagos is more vulnerable to Chinese spying under the status quo because China does not recognise UK sovereignty anway
- Trump is about to reject Starmer's deal on the Chagos Islands according to GB News, despite the thumb's up last year from the US State Department after a "complex interagency review" If the U-turn happens, it will be a triumph for the campaign of half-truths waged by UK opponents of the deal.
- theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/31/european-defence-disarray-future-nato-trump?CMP=share_btn_url NATO chief Rutte gets a rough ride after telling European politicians that Europe still needs the US for defence France insists Europe can go it alone Yet only Rutte mentioned Russia's nuclear supremacy
