The US President has thrown the UK’s plans to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius into fresh doubt.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer is “pausing” the Chagos Islands deal after Donald Trump‘s latest attack. The US President urged the Prime Minister to scrap the agreement to hand over sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius.
Under the controversial pact, Britain would pay an eye-watering amount to lease back the joint UK-US Diego Garcia military base. Speaking in the Commons today, Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer said “we are now discussing those concerns with the US directly”.
Donald Trump has taken aim at the Chagos deal (Image: Getty)
He said that while the US had previously expressed support for the pact “there clearly has been a statement from the President of the US more recently, which is very significant”.
Mr Falconer added: “We have a process going through Parliament in relation to the treaty.
“We will bring that back to Parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”
The Conservatives called for the deal to be scrapped altogether after it emerged that it has been put on ice.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “The Chagos Surrender deal is an appalling act of betrayal. It undermines our national security and that of our allies, including the US.
“I am in Washington lobbying senior administration figures on this issue and I am pleased the UK Government has been forced to pause the legislation.
“But ministers must go further: now it is time for Keir Starmer to face reality and kill this shameful surrender once and for all before it does any more damage.”
Last week, Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform to warn the Prime Minister not to “give away” Diego Garcia.
The Times has reported that his latest criticism was because of Britain’s refusal to give the White House the green light to use the base or RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for a potential military campaign against Iran.
Mr Trump said that “it may be necessary” for the US to use Diego Garcia “and the airfield located in Fairford” in order to “eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime”.
He branded the UK’s agreement to hand over the islands as “a big mistake”.
