Boris Johnson and Liz Truss ‘lobbied Donald Trump to block Starmer’s Chagos deal’
Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are reportedly lobbying Donald Trump to block Britain’s plan to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after the US president threw the deal into doubt again this week.
The US president earlier this week urged Sir Keir Starmer not to hand over Diego Garcia, an island in the archipelago that hosts a joint UK-US military base, despite Washington signaling official support for the deal on Tuesday.
Two former British prime ministers are said to have raised concerns about the deal with the US president before launching new attacks on the deal.
A senior Conservative Party official told Politico that Mr Johnson, who had previously called the deal a “horrible, terrible idea”, had raised the Chagos issue with Trump “a number of times”.
Another source, meanwhile, told the press that Ms. Truss brought up the Chagos deal with Mr. Trump when she met him at his Mar-a-Lago resort last weekend.
A third source claimed the former prime minister was given a briefing note outlining the arguments against the deal before the meeting.
Mr Trump’s stance on the deal has become unstable as the US president changes his stance from week to week, throwing Britain’s foreign policy position into chaos.
In his latest intervention, he described the UK’s agreement to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius and lease back the joint UK-US military base Diego Garcia as a “big mistake”.
The U-turn on its previous support for the deal is said to be a result of Britain refusing to allow the White House to use the base or RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for possible military action against Iran.
The government’s stance stems from concerns about violations of international law. Times The report does not distinguish between the country that carried out the attack and the country that provided support “with knowledge of the circumstances of the act contrary to international law.”
Bases may only be used for military operations with prior government approval and must comply with UK law and the country’s interpretation of relevant international law.
The US president is considering new military action against the Islamic Republic; A second American warship is heading towards the region, amid warnings that the nuclear program could continue if an agreement is not reached.
Posting on the Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said it “may be necessary” for the US to use Diego Garcia and the airspace at Fairford to “need down a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime”.
The latest revelations about Mr Johnson and Ms Truss’ involvement in the saga come after Yvette Cooper held a meeting with her US counterpart Marco Rubio that was expected to increase tensions over the deal.
The talks, held in Washington, were planned to discuss UK-US cooperation in a range of areas including defence, security and trade. However, the Chagos Islands agreement was thought to be high on the agenda.
A representative for Ms. Truss declined to comment. Boris Johnson’s office has been contacted.
