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.”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
