Boris Johnson and Liz Truss ‘lobbied Trump to block Starmer’s Chagos deal’

Boris Johnson and Liz Truss both lobbied Donald Trump to block the UK’s plan to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, it has been reported, after the US president threw the deal into fresh doubt this week.

Mr Trump earlier this week urged Sir Keir Starmer not to “give away Diego Garcia” – an island on the archipelago which is home to a joint UK-US military base – despite Washington signalling its official backing for the deal on Tuesday.

The two former UK prime ministers are both said to have raised concerns over the deal with the US president before he launched renewed attacks on the agreement.

Mr Johnson, who has previously dubbed the agreement a “terrible, terrible idea”, has raised the Chagos issue with Mr Trump on a “number of occasions”, one senior Conservative told Politico.

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Meanwhile, another source told the outlet that Ms Truss had also raised the issue with Mr Trump when she met with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort last weekend.

A third source claimed the former prime minister was given a briefing note outlining the arguments against the agreement before she sat down with him.

Mr Trump’s position on the agreement has been volatile, with the US president changing his stance from week to week and throwing the UK’s foreign policy position into chaos.

In his latest intervention, he described the UK’s agreement to hand sovereignty to Mauritius and lease back the Diego Garcia joint UK-US military base as “a big mistake”.

The U-turn on his previous support for the agreement is said to have come as a result of Britain’s refusal to let the White House use the base, or RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, for a potential military campaign against Iran.

The government’s position is due to concerns over a breach of international law, The Times reported, which does not distinguish between a nation carrying out an attack and one that provides support with “knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act”.

The bases can only be used for military operations with prior consent from the government and would need to comply with UK law and the country’s interpretation of relevant international law.

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The US president is weighing fresh military action against the Islamic Republic, with a second American warship moving into the region amid warnings that he could go ahead if no deal on its nuclear programme is reached.

Posting on his Truth Social platform, 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”.

The latest revelations about Mr Johnson’s and Ms Truss’ reported involvement in the saga comes as Yvette Cooper meets with her US counterpart Marco Rubio, where she’s expected to raise the matter of the agreement.

The talks, held in Washington, are to discuss UK-US cooperation on a range of areas, including defence, security and trade. But the Chagos Islands deal was thought to be high on the agenda.

A representative for Ms Truss declined to comment. Boris Johnson’s office has been contacted.