Now is not the time to discuss how appropriate Orders-in-Council are for lawmaking in a twenty-first-century democracy, but this move showed disregard for the Chagossians’ basic human rights. Earlier this year, we saw this cynicism in action once again, when David Miliband, foreign secretary in the previous Labour government, declared the Chagos Islands to be a protected marine zone, thereby preventing the islanders – if eventually they do return – from making their living from fishing.