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Keir Starmer’s attempts to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius with a highly controversial deal appear to be on a knife edge after the two governments issued a joint statement admitting they have not yet reached an agreement.
While Labour’s attempts to end British colonial rule on the Indian Ocean islands has the backing of the Biden administration, the incoming Trump administration is opposed to a deal and is seeking ways to veto it.
And with just a week to go before Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the USA time appears to be running out for Sir Keir before he has to deal with a new White House on the thorny issue.
To add to the complications the recently elected government in Mauritius rejected a deal agreed with foreign secretary David Lammy with their predecessor government. This has meant a new round of talks but the UK’s promise to frontload payments for the continued lease of the crucial Diego Garcia military airbase have not yet produced a breakthrough.
In a joint statement on Monday, the UK and Mauritius governments said: “Representatives from Mauritius and the UK held further productive discussions in London this week on the future of the Chagos Archipelago.
“Good progress has been made and discussions are ongoing to reach an agreement that is in both sides’ interests.
“Both countries reiterated their commitment to concluding a treaty providing that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago; and that would ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the base on Diego Garcia.”
Critics of the proposed deal are concerned about the future of the Diego Garcia base, which is crucial for western defence in the southern hemisphere. Additionally, it would fail to prevent another agreement between Mauritius and China to have a rival base on the islands. There are also question marks over whether the UK and US could continue to take nuclear weapons there because Mauritius is part of a nuclear weapons-free international agreement.
Talks began under the previous Conservative government after the International Court of Justice ruled that the islands should belong to Mauritius. However, it has been pointed out that the ruling was only advisory and can be ignored.
Nevertheless, Sir Keir and Mr Lammy have insisted that the only way to secure the long-term future of the Diego Garcia base is to sign an agreement with Mauritius which includes a 99-year lease for the facility.
Responding to the joint statement, Tory shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said: “Keir Starmer and David Lammy’s Chagos giveaway will undermine our national interest and the defence and security of Britain and our allies.
“The surrender of our sovereignty over Chagos not only leaves us exposed to greater security threats, but it is economically illiterate. At a time when public spending is under serious pressure, they are also signing up to spend billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money leasing back a site that is currently under our sovereignty.
“And to add insult to injury, they are doing all this in secret, with Labour ministers keep refusing to explain the details to Parliament and the British public. They must urgently come clean on what exactly this surrender is going to cost us.”
