UK foreign secretary admits Chagos deal won’t happen unless Trump approves it

The Chagos Islands deal will not go ahead without the backing of Donald Trump, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said. Speaking to ITV’s Peston in an interview which will air in full this evening, he said: ‘If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward.

‘The reason for that is because we have a shared military and intelligence interest with the United States, and of course they’ve got to be happy with the deal, or there is no deal.’. Lammy added: ‘Look, in the end, Diego Garcia is a military base and it has capabilities on that military base that we share with – work together with our American friends. And I said before that on a military level and an intelligence level, we’re very intertwined with the United States.

‘We struck a deal after striking that deal, there was a change of government in Mauritius. And the new government in Mauritius had to have time to look at the deal. ‘And there has been a change of government here in the United States and the United States administration have had time to look at the deal. I still believe it’s the best deal.’.

The government announced that the UK will hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in October, in a deal intended to end years of legal wrangling about the Indian Ocean archipelago. But the agreement at the time came under criticism by both Conservative and Reform MPs, who argued it weakened British interests on a global scale and handed a victory to China.

At the time, Nigel Farage suggested the Trump administration could lock horns with the Labour government over the Chagos Islands. But last month, the government confirmed it would not sign off on a deal to give up the island until Donald Trump had taken office.

Allies of Trump are critical of the deal because of the implications for the strategically important military base. The government has not ruled out that money from increased defence spending could be used as part of the Chagos deal if it does go ahead.

Asked about Sir Keir Starmer’s response to questions about whether any of the new money will be spent on the deal, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The uplift announced yesterday will be going on our military capabilities, technology, adopting cutting-edge capabilities that are vital to retain a decisive edge as threats rapidly evolve.’.

The spokesman added: ‘We’ll obviously present the details of the Chagos deal as and when it’s finalised.’. The Tories failed in a bid to secure greater transparency over the Chagos negotiations. This would have included asking the government to release a chronology of the negotiations between the UK and Mauritius and funding.

The news also comes as Starmer prepares to meet with Trump on Thursday. Starmer denied Trump is dictating policy after a huge boost to military spending. Putin’s attack dogs also took aim at Starmer for boosting military defence. Trump has also announced that a ‘very big’ minerals deal is set to be signed on Friday with Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington.

The Chagos Islands have been strictly out of bounds since 1973 when the UK and US took it over to use as a military base. They have been shrouded in secrecy since Chagossians were forced to leave. This has been considered the most shameful part of modern colonial British history.

The islands themselves include the tropical ring island of Diego Garcia. This area is home to navy ships and long-range bomber aircrafts, and sits on the list of the world’s most remote pieces of land. What adds to the mystery more is that there are no commercial flights and permits for boats are only granted for the outer islands.

Only some select people with connections to the military facility are granted access, and journalists have always been barred from gaining access. There are rumours that Diego Garcia was used as a CIA black-site – a facility used to interrogate terror suspects.

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