Их Британи Украйнд нийлүүлэх дроны эсрэг пуужингийн тоог нэмэгдүүлнэ

While Andy Burnham prepares for PMQs, he may be amused by a peculiar row that has broken out between Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, the leaders of the two most prominent rightwing opposition parties. It is about the Chagos Islands – a subject on which until recently the Tories and Reform UK were united in their opposition to Labour’s proposed deal transferring sovereignty to Mauritius.

The Telegraph has a story by Genevieve Holl-Allen quoting what Farage, the Reform UK leader, recently told a US podcast. He said he would have handed it over to President Trump. Farage said:

I’d have gone in and said, ‘Right, you know what, mate? Chagos, it’s yours. Diego Garcia, in perpetuity, the most strategic American military base in the world, which it is.

Outside mainland America, Diego is the most important thing America has for nuclear subs, for long-range bombers, for all of it.

I’d have said, ‘Right, I’m guaranteeing you that. I’m giving up on this surrender. In return, just please stop talking about the Falkland Islands. I know you like [Argentina’s president Javier] Milei, but this really matters to us’. And there’s a trade, you see.

I give him something. I ask for something back. He’d get that. He’d understand that. He’s a businessman. He’s a trader.

The Telegraph put these remarks to Badenoch, and its story leads off on her reaction. The Tory leader said:

Giving away British territory in return for someone keeping quiet is not a deal. It is humiliating.

There is no pride in our country in the way he talks about us. This is careless, loose talk from a man who wants to be responsible for Britain’s national security.

The Chagos Islands are British. And the Falklands are British and will remain British, irrespective of what the American president says. When Donald Trump is right, we should say so. When he is wrong, we should have the confidence to tell him.

Last night Farage hit back, claiming the Telegraph, and Badenoch, had misinterpreted what he had said. He was not really talking about giving the US the whole of the Chagos Islands, he said; he was just proposing guaranteed use of the Diego Garcia military base in perpetuity (which is close to what Labour is offering the US anyway). Farage said:

This is totally dishonest journalism. I make it clear that I am opposed to the surrender of sovereignty to Mauritius. I would offer the use of Diego Garcia to the USA in perpetuity. In return I would want America to go quiet on the Falklands.

No one has fought harder to save the Chagos Islands from being given away than I have, unlike the Tories and Labour trying to give them away. I have even helped repopulate the islands with Chagossians.

Good morning. Andy Burnham is taking PMQs this afternoon, but he will regard his most important engagement as the meeting he has with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, later in No 10. Peter Walker has a preview.

When Keir Starmer talked about his best achievements as PM, he said one of the things he was most proud of was being able to embrace Zelenskyy outside No 10 only 24 hours after President Trump humiliated him in the Oval Office, in what was a moving and unequivocal show of British support for Ukraine at a moment of peril. The circumstances are not exactly the same today, but Trump called for Zelenskyy to be replaced at the weekend, and – again – Burnham is signalling that, if Ukraine cannot always rely on Washington, it can rely on London.

In an overnight statement, Burnham said:

Our rock-solid support to Ukraine is vital for keeping us safe here in the UK and ensuring those on the frontlines have the equipment they need to push back Russia.

My message to the Ukrainian people could not be clearer, we are with you for as long as it takes, and we will go further and faster in our support to back your courageous fight for peace in Europe.

It is not just the right thing to do, but it’s the necessary thing to do. Russia’s aggression cannot be allowed to succeed on our continent.

Burnham is also announcing that the UK will “accelerate deliveries of British Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs), which have proven extremely effective against jet-powered drones that are being used to strike far beyond the front lines in Ukraine, including Kyiv and beyond.” No 10 says:

The [Russian] drones are faster and can fly far higher than propeller-driven Shaheds, making them harder to detect and destroy before they hit targets.

The UK has already committed £1.6 billion to deliver more than 5,000 LMMs to Ukraine over the next four years and will accelerate £10m of the £45m package of missiles announced today to meet Ukraine’s most urgent winter requirements.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10.30am: Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, gives evidence to the Lords constitution committee on constitutional safeguards.

Noon: Andy Burnham faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.

After 12.30pm: MPs debate a Tory opposition day motion saying that the government should not place asylum seekers in a military camp near Piddington, and that it should “withdraw from the European convention on human rights in order to deport illegal migrants”.

Afternoon: Burnham hosts Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, in Downing Street.

3pm: Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, gives evidence to the Commons energy committee.

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