Farage and Truss in rightwing plot to derail Chagos Islands deal at the last minute
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Exclusive: Chagos Islands row has ‘laid the groundwork’ for future cooperation between Tories and Reform, a leading organiser of efforts to stop the deal with Mauritius has claimed. Frantic cross-Atlantic discussions took place over the last week between rightwing Tory and Reform politicians and Donald Trump’s team to try to ensure Keir Starmer did not complete a deal with the Chagos Islands before the inauguration on Monday.
![[Former UK prime minister Liz Truss and Nigel Farage]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/02/22/01/e2e51048894e4d238e130fa6f101e0cc.jpg)
With president-elect Trump seeking to block or even veto the deal to hand over the British Indian Ocean colony to Mauritius, the hope had been that Sir Keir would be prevented from landing an agreement before he is sworn into office on Monday. The revelation came as Kemi Badenoch branded the agreement as “a dumb deal” in prime minister’s questions (PMQs), asking “Why does the prime minister think the British people should pay for something they already own?”.
Sir Keir said: “We inherited the situation where the long-term operation of a vital military base was under threat because of legal challenges.”. He pointed out that negotiations were started under the last Tory government, adding that his deal had delivered “effective continued operation of the base.”.
But despite having Joe Biden’s blessing, it appeared last night that the UK government has reportedly conceded defeat in efforts to accelerate an agreement and decided to wait for the new administration to begin in the White House. Critics of the deal are concerned about the future of the joint UK/ US airbase on Diego Garcia and also the potential for China to gain access to the islands.
