Starmer’s government ‘pauses’ Chagos deal amid Trump criticism
Legislation aiming to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has reportedly been suspended following direct criticism from Donald Trump.
The proposed £35bn deal, which includes a plan to lease back the key UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, now faces significant hurdles.
According to The Times, the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill, which is a key piece of legislation, is not expected to be on the Government’s legislative agenda for the King’s Speech in May.
The Republican, who had previously supported the agreement, directly affected its progress by calling the agreement “an act of great stupidity” in a post on the Truth Social platform in January.
A speaking government source TimesHe acknowledged the deal as “the best way to protect the long-term future of the base” but confirmed that transactions would not proceed without Mr. Trump’s approval.
This stance was echoed by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who declared that the deal should find its “rightful place on the ash heap of history”.
He has also repeatedly criticized the Prime Minister throughout the conflict in the Middle East; Britain and its NATO allies “turned their backs” on the American people during the Iran war, the White House said.
Ms Badenoch said: “If Keir Starmer’s Chagos surrender now finds its rightful place on the ash heap of history, it will be because the Conservatives led the fight against it from day one.
“The fact that it has taken this long is yet another damning indictment of a Prime Minister who is struggling to pay £35bn to cede British sovereign territory and use a crucial military base that is already ours.”
In February, there was confusion over whether the bill would go ahead, with Foreign Secretary Hamish Falconer telling the House of Commons that the deal had been “paused”, but Government officials later said he had said it wrong.
The US administration had initially hailed the deal as a “tremendous achievement” but Mr Trump later called it a “total weakness”.
He later reversed his position, saying it was the “best” deal Sir Keir could do before withdrawing his support again.
The legislation enabling the handover has not been submitted to Parliament since January 20, although it is in the final stages.
The government argued that the agreement was necessary to guarantee the future of the Diego Garcia base after the International Court of Justice’s advisory ruling in 2019 supported Mauritius’ sovereignty claims over the islands.
