Lammy admits Trump can veto Chagos deal ahead of White House confrontation over islands

Foreign secretary’s admission comes as The Independent has discovered the President has been handed a second legal dossier on why the deal should not go ahead. David Lammy has conceded that Donald Trump can veto the controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The foreign secretary’s admission comes as The Independent has discovered the US President has been handed a second legal dossier on why the deal should not go ahead. It is understood that Mr Trump will raise the subject of giving the islands, which are home to the crucial UK/US Diego Garcia airbase, to a potential ally of China.

The UK had been prepared to spend as much as £18 billion leasing back the base for the next 99 years after the handover takes place. Speaking on Robert Peston’s show on ITV, Mr Lammy said: “If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward.”.

The admission appears to underline a growing feeling that the president will veto the deal which is set to be discussed in the White House when the prime minister visits on Thursday. It also comes on a day when Sir Keir Starmer refused to deny that his defence budget boost of £6 billion will be spent paying Mauritius to lease back the airbase, after he was confronted on the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

Sir Keir and Mr Lammy hope that they can make a last ditch effort to persuade the president that the deal is “good” and will preserve the legality of the base on Diego Garcia. But they have been unwilling to provide details on the consequences of a deal, which has already been delayed because of a change of government in Mauritius.

The Independent has been told that a dossier, prepared by Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick on the legalities of the issue and why there is no need to hand over the islands, has been placed in the hands of Trump aide Stephen Miller. The president is being briefed for questions on the subject when he and Sir Keir meet in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Mr Jenrick recently caused outrage by claiming Sir Keir was “a Quisling”- a World War Two term for someone who collaborates with an occupying force in their own country - because of the planned deal. But today, he republished his points in a video posted to social media making it clear that the deal has no legal necessity because an initial ruling by the International Court of Justice on Mauritius’ claim to the island is “only advisory”.

A source in Mr Trump’s team told The Independent that the issue is likely to get push back from the President. The source said: “The US wants to know what side the UK is going to be on when it comes to China. The Chagos deal and the Lord Mandelson appointment as ambassador sent the wrong signal.

“The president won’t hesitate to put Starmer on the spot on some of these things, and especially on free speech. The Labour position is untenable, and they seem to have only doubled down on it. I talked with a Labour staffer last week who acknowledged that they’d allowed cancel culture to go too far, but then promptly returned to the talking point of free speech needing regulation because of people like Elon Musk. They don’t get it.”.

Addressing Chagos in a briefing with journalists on his flight to Washington, Sir Keir said: “I'm not going to get ahead of the discussions. We'll give you a readout of those discussions. And you heard what I said about the funding. The deal when finalised, is something I'll put before the House, along with the costings, and so that'll be clear for everybody soon.”.