Labour will push ahead with its “shameful surrender deal” to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
A senior Foreign Office official has said plans to hand over the archipelago were “unlikely to change” under Andy Burnham.
Robbie Bulloch, the director of the Foreign Office’s overseas territories and polar directorate met Gavin Glover, Attorney General of Mauritius, last week to deliver the news, despite previous pushback from Donald Trump.
Mr Trump pulled support of the deal in April, describing it as an “act of great stupidity”.
Britain would lease back Diego Garcia, the joint US-UK military base, at a cost of as much as £35billion to the British taxpayer over the next century.
Mauritian cabinet ministers were briefed on Friday about the meeting between Mr Bulloch and Mr Glover.
Mauritian ministers were told: “The UK side informed that a new UK Prime Minister was likely to be appointed by July 20, 2026, but the UK policy with regard to the Chagos Archipelago was unlikely to change.”
Priti Patel, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, told The Telegraph: “It is staggering that Andy Burnham apparently plans to press ahead with Starmer’s shameful surrender deal rather than keep Chagos British.
“This deal – handing over British sovereign territory and coughing up £35billion of hard-pressed taxpayers’ cash for the privilege – has seriously undermined our relationship with our allies and put our national security at risk.
“No assurances over maritime protections or Chagossian heritage visits will cover up the disastrous character of this surrender, which Chagossians themselves oppose.”
Mauritian ministers were also told of Britain’s plan to host a “heritage visit” for Chagossians next year.
Earlier this year, a group of Chagossians, led by first minister Misley Mandarin, took a journey by boat to the island to establish a settlement.
They were, however, hit with removal orders and told they faced a three-year prison sentence or £3,000 fine if they refused to leave.
The eviction notices were later quashed as the court ruled the Chagossians’ “heritage rights” must be considered.
The UK is also drawing up plans to send a delegation to Mauritius in October to “undertake a maritime capability needs assessment”.
The ability of Mauritius to defend the Chagos Marine Protected Area has also become a key stumbling block for the deal.
A report earlier this year warned the Chagos deal would have a “catastrophic” impact on endangered marine life, and threatened hundreds of species of rare fish, birds and coral life.
Last week, Robert Midgley, the spokesman for the Friends of British Overseas Territories told GB News it would be “the definition of insanity” to attempt to push through the deal.
He said: “It’s no surprise that Burnham may want to continue with this. He may want to continue with Jonathan Powell in office and even Lord Hermer – Hermer still thinks he can get this through in July.
“But it’s absolutely impossible to bring back the Bill at this stage because we’ve got the 1966 agreement with the Americans which states the US recognises sovereignty.
“So in order to bring that bill into Parliament, they would have to change that, and Donald Trump refuses to change that right now.”
