Sir Keir Starmer has delayed his Chagos Islands handover deal in the face of backlash from the US after Donald Trump labelled it an act of “great stupidity”.
The UK government’s plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which was set to be debated in the House of Lords on Monday, has now been withdrawn, amid warnings it could breach a treaty with the US that asserts the UK’s sovereignty over the archipelago.
Ministers have furiously accused peers of interfering with Britain’s national security and “irresponsible and reckless behaviour” in response to the news. While sources insist the bill will return, opponents claim it cannot move forward without support from the US.
Trump, in a scathing attack on Britain earlier this week, said there was “no reason whatsoever” for the deal to be struck, adding that it is “another” national security reason why Greenland must be acquired by his country.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump added: “Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING.”
As the deal faces further delay, here is why it matters.
Last year, Sir Keir agreed a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control of the UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.
In return, the UK has been promised a 99-year lease on the base, in return for an average annual fee of £101m in current prices. The government estimates this will mean a total cost of £3.4bn.
These islands are currently governed by the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), and have been in some form since 1814. In 1965, the UK and US officially detached the islands from Mauritius for joint defence purposes, creating a separate colony and forcibly removing native Chagossians soon after.
Mauritius will be free to arrange the resettlement of Chagossians on all islands in the archipelago under the terms, except for Diego Garcia.
Mr Trump appeared to indicate his support for the deal last year, telling Sir Keir during his visit to the White House in February that he was “inclined to go with your country” and that he had “a feeling it’s going to work out very well”.
International law had long called into question the UK’s sovereignty over the BIOT, with the feeling largely mirrored by the Chagossian community.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on the arrangement, finding that the UK had an “obligation” to bring its administration of the islands to an end “as rapidly as possible”.
This was not a legally binding judgement, and the Conservative administration in power at the time disagreed with it.
