UK's Chagos deal on hold to allow Trump to assess it
ReutersIncoming US President Donald Trump will be consulted on the UK's deal to hand over to Mauritius the Chagos Islands where there is a joint US-UK military base.
The UK announced in October it would cede sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago, but maintain control of the base on the largest island Diego Garcia.
Efforts to get the treaty signed before Trump's inauguration on Monday had been made, the BBC understands, and it had been expected the Mauritian cabinet would approve the deal on Wednesday.
The deal had already been greenlit by the Biden administration but the UK prime minister's office on Wednesday said the incoming Trump government would now "consider" the deal.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was "perfectly reasonable for the US administration to consider the detail" of any agreement.
But shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said the latest development was "complete humiliation" for the prime minister because Labour had been "desperate to sign off the surrender of the Chagos Islands before President Trump returns to office".
In October, President Biden had previously praised the "historic agreement" which he said secured the future of a base which "plays a vital role in national, regional, and global security."
It is unclear if Trump's administration would have any objection. The incoming president has not publicly commented on the deal.
But the incoming US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said it poses a "serious threat", arguing it gives the islands to a country aligned with China. Mauritius has a trade agreement with China.
Reform UK leader and Trump ally Nigel Farage believes the agreement would damage Sir Keir's relations with the US president-elect.
"If this gets signed before the inauguration, when the Americans realise... that Diego Garcia, their most important military base in the world, may effectively be rendered pretty useless, I think the special relationship will be fractured in a way that will not be mended during the course of this government," he told the BBC.
But on Wednesday at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir defended the deal, pointing out the negotiations had started under the last Tory government. He insisted the deal was the best way to safeguard the military base.
Reports had suggested Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam would sign off an agreement on Wednesday as he attended a cabinet meeting, but it was later announced his attorney general was travelling to London to continue talks.
The UK took control of the Chagos Islands, or British Indian Ocean Territory, from its then colony, Mauritius, in 1965 and went on to evict its population of more than 1,000 people to make way for the Diego Garcia base.
Mauritius, which won independence from the UK in 1968, has maintained that the islands are its own, and the UN's highest court has ruled, in an advisory opinion, that the UK's administration of the territory is "unlawful".
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister was "negotiating a secret deal to surrender British territory and taxpayers in this country will pay for the humiliation".
Badenoch said there was "no way we should be giving up British territory in Chagos", claiming Sir Keir was "rushing a deal which will be disastrous" and it would cost British taxpayers billions of pounds.
The cost of the proposed deal to the UK has not been officially announced.
In response to Badenoch, Sir Keir told PMQs the planned agreement would ensure the military base on Diego Garcia can continue operating effectively.
A deal over the Chagos Islands was first announced in October following years of negotiations.
But weeks later, after his election, Mr Ramgoolam said he had reservations about the draft treaty and asked for an independent review.
In a joint statement in October, Mauritius and the UK said the deal would "address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians".
The Chagos islanders – some in Mauritius and the Seychelles, but others living in Crawley in Sussex – do not speak with one voice on the fate of their homeland.
Some have criticised the deal, saying they were not consulted in the negotiations.
Under the proposed deal, Mauritius will be able to begin a programme of resettlement on the Chagos Islands, but not on Diego Garcia.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has previously played down the criticism, saying it is a "very good deal" for "our national security" because it secured the legal basis of the Diego Garcia military base.