Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer‘s Chagos Islands deal was thrown into chaos today as the Government was forced to deny it had been put on ice following Donald Trump’s latest criticism. Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer told the Commons that the UK was “pausing” the agreement to hand over sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius.
The US President had urged the Prime Minister to scrap the controversial pact, which would see Britain pay an eye-watering amount to lease back the joint UK-US Diego Garcia military base. Mr Falconer said: “There was support from the US administration for this treaty, which has not changed.
Donald Trump has taken aim at the Chagos deal (Image: Getty)
“There clearly has been a statement from the President of the US more recently, which is very significant.
“And as I told the house we are now discussing those concerns with the US directly. We have a process going through Parliament in relation to the treaty.
“We will bring that back to Parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”
But a government source said: “There is no pause, we have never set a deadline and timings will be announced in the usual way”.
Last week, Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform to warn the Prime Minister not to “give away” Diego Garcia, branding the deal “a big mistake”.
The Conservatives repeated their demand for the agreement to be abandoned following Mr Falconer’s comments.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame 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 US.
“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.”
Mr Trump’s latest criticism of the agreement was reportedly because Britain had refused to give the White House the green light to use Diego Garcia or RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for a potential military campaign against Iran.
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The legislation on the deal has not been debated in either the Commons or the Lords since January 20, even though it is in its final stages.
The Government has argued the pact is necessary to guarantee the future of the Diego Garcia base after an advisory International Court of Justice ruling in 2019 backed Mauritian claims to sovereignty over the islands.
