Delay finalising Chagos Islands deal until after Trump inauguration, say Tories
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Ministers have been urged to delay decisions on giving up control of the Chagos Islands until after Donald Trump’s inauguration. The UK and Mauritius said they have made “good progress” on a revised agreement, with Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam claiming the UK wants it finalised before Mr Trump is sworn in as president on January 20.
But Conservative MPs urged caution from the Government and suggested ministers hold off for at least week given hostility to the proposed arrangement from Mr Trump’s allies. The exchanges in the House of Commons came as preparations for Mr Trump’s presidency were discussed at Cabinet on Tuesday.
Sir Keir Starmer is not expected to attend the inauguration but the Prime Minister and Mr Trump have discussed meeting “at the earliest opportunity” – with speculation a visit to Washington could come within weeks of the Republican’s arrival in the White House.
The UK struck a deal with Mr Ramgoolam’s predecessor to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands – also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory – but lease back the strategically important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia for at least 99 years.
But the proposed agreement, which includes the UK paying an annual sum of money, was struck before elections in both Mauritius and the United States and has run into trouble since the results of those contests. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel asked in the Commons: “Can the Foreign Secretary explain why he’s surrendering the Chagos Islands and frontloading payments to the government of Mauritius to lease the base at Diego Garcia at a cost of £9 billion to UK taxpayers?.
