Labour Pauses Chagos Handover Deal For More Talks With US After Trump Outburst

The government has paused its plans to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius after criticism of the deal by Donald Trump.

Labour announced last year that it intended to cede sovereignty of the archipelago while paying £99 billion to lease back the UK-US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia, for the next 99 years.

Trump initially backed the agreement but rowed back on his support in January amid a wider spat with European allies over Greenland’s sovereignty.

A phone call from Keir Starmer then convinced the president this was the “best deal” available.

But last week, Trump U-turned again, calling the plan a “blight” on the UK in an explosive social media post.

He wrote on TruthSocial that he had told the UK PM “leases are no good when it comes to countries” and that Britain was “making a big mistake by entering a 100 year lease”.

He added: “Prime minister Starmer is losing control of this important Island by claims of entities never known of before. In our opinion, they are fictitious in nature.”

The president also claimed the US might need the islands if Iran does not agree to a new nuclear deal.

Foreign office minister Hamish Falconer admitted to MPs on Wednesday that the statement from Trump was “very significant”.

He added that the government is “now discussing those concerns with the United States directly”.

“We have a process going through parliament in relation to the treaty,” the minister said. “We will bring that back to parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”

But a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson later said: “There is no pause.

“We have never set a deadline. Timings will be announced in the usual way.
“We are continuing discussions with the US, and we have been clear we will not proceed without their support.”

The government has always insisted that this Chagos agreement is the “only way to guarantee the long-term future of this vital military base”.

The Conservatives’ shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said: “The Chagos Surrender deal is an appalling act of betrayal. It undermines our national security and that of our allies, including the United States.

“I am in Washington lobbying senior administration figures on this issue and I am pleased the UK government has been forced to pause the legislation.

“But ministers must go further: now it is time for Keir Starmer to face reality and kill this shameful surrender once and for all before it does any more damage.”