Keir Starmer's Chagos Islands deal 'on brink of collapse' as envoy sent to salvage agreement
27 November 2024, 21:45
Keir Starmer's Chagos Islands deal is on the brink of collapse - with an envoy having been sent in a bid to salvage the agreement.
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The UK's national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, has been sent on a last-minute tour to help seal the deal.
It comes after allies of Donald Trump and new Mauritian prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, rejected it.
As part of the deal, Britain will cede sovereignty over the archipelago to the Mauritian government.
Final details of the legal text of the treaty are being worked out, with the plan to put the deal before Parliament for scrutiny next year.
However, there have since been concerns surrounding the security of a US military base on Diego Garcia due to China's influence in Mauritius.
Under the terms of the deal, the UK-US military presence is expected to run for 99 years with an option to renew, with Britain paying a regular annual sum of money.
Read more: Keir Starmer signs 'Rwanda-style' deal to deport migrants from Chagos Islands to territory
The government has insisted it had to strike a deal to protect the ongoing operation of the base after an International Court of Justice ruling that the UK's administration of the British Indian Ocean Territory was "unlawful" and must end.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has since dismissed criticism over the deal as "politicking" before elections.
"I'm very, very confident that this is a deal that the Mauritians will see, in a cross-party sense, as a good deal for them," Mr Lammy said.
At the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Tory former Cabinet minister Sir John Whittingdale said the Mauritian leader had described the agreement as "high treason and a sellout".
But Mr Lammy said: "Both you and I have said things during an election in order to get elected. He did not say that yesterday."
Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned in October that the agreement posed "a serious threat" to US national security by handing over the islands to a country allied with China.
"This is incredibly sad," Mr Lammy said. "I know and I'm sad that there's been so much politicking about this.
"This process begun under the last (UK) government and there were ministers who understand entirely why this is so important for our national security and global national security.
"The agencies in the United States think this is a good deal. The State Department in the United States thinks this is a good deal and most important of all, the Pentagon and the White House think this is a good deal.
"And that's not just the principal politicians in those in those areas, it is the system."
