Chagos campaigner says she has 'more faith in Donald Trump than Andy Burnham' to block territory's surrender

You are about to be charged £0.00* *Your gift has been applied Thank you for subscribing! Chagos campaigner says she has 'more faith in Donald Trump than Andy Burnham' to block territory's surrender 'This deal is clearly dead. So come clean and say it,' Vanessa Kalu said The fearless champion of Britain, its voices and its values. Join the fight for free speech and fearless journalism. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Community Rules. Don't Miss Most Read Latest A Chagossian campaigner has said she has “more faith” in Donald Trump than Andy Burnham to protect the Chagos Islands from being handed to Mauritius. Vanessa Kalu, the Chagossian lead at the Friends of the British Overseas Territories, spoke after a tense first meeting between the Prime Minister and the US President. As the two sat down following a bilateral meeting in New York, Mr Trump condemned the deal as “ridiculous”. "I don't support it… Most of them say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before, after decades and centuries. I think it's ridiculous." After the meeting, Mr Burnham appeared to blame his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, for the issue. "I inherited this situation, and we need a resolution. It's critical to safeguard the future of the base," he said. The Prime Minister then insisted that Britain would “work hard” to find a solution to the row. Despite this, Ms Kalu maintained her doubts about the UK’s desire to scrap the deal and instead put her faith in Mr Trump. Donald Trump dissavowed the Chagos surrender deal in his first meeting with Andy Burnham |GETTY “This is really strange that I have more faith in the President of the United States, Donald Trump, than our Prime Minister.” “They can't stand up for the British people. At the moment, only the US President is standing up for the British people. He has the United Kingdom in his heart. The Chagossian questioned: “Why doesn't our Prime Minister have that in his heart? “He needs to be clearly saying, 'This is our homeland. I stand with the people, the Chagossians, who are British citizens. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Chagossian Vanessa Kalu said she has 'more faith' in Donald Trump than Andy Burnham to protect the Chagos Islands |GB NEWS “We need to save our homeland from other people who created a situation to be able to take our homeland away.” Ms Kalu also criticised the Government for relying on United Nations decisions to justify the proposed agreement, arguing that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had called for ratification to be suspended pending consultation with Chagossians. She stressed that the determination was that “self-determination for the people of the British solution is a must”. “So the Prime Minister is hiding behind the UN to justify this deal. “The UN said to suspend it. So I'm still concerned why the government hasn't suspended it.” Issuing a direct message to the Prime Minister, Ms Kalu demanded a definitive response to President Trump’s disavowal and the UN ruling. “This deal is clearly dead. So come clean and say: ‘This Chagos deal is dead.’” The Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, are home to a joint UK-US airbase, but talks have been ongoing since the last Conservative government handed sovereignty to Mauritius.