What is the UK’s Chagos Islands deal and why has Starmer delayed it?

Sir Keir Starmer has delayed his Chagos Islands handover deal in the face of backlash from the US after Donald Trump labelled it an act of “great stupidity”.

The UK government’s plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which was set to be debated in the House of Lords on Monday, has now been withdrawn, amid warnings it could breach a treaty with the US that asserts the UK’s sovereignty over the archipelago.

Ministers have furiously accused peers of interfering with Britain’s national security and “irresponsible and reckless behaviour” in response to the news. While sources insist the bill will return, opponents claim it cannot move forward without support from the US.

Mr Trump, in a scathing attack on Britain earlier this week, said there was “no reason whatsoever” for the deal to be struck, adding that it is “another” national security reason why Greenland must be acquired by his country.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump added: “Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING.”

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As the deal faces further delay, here is why it matters.

Last year, Sir Keir agreed a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control of the UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.

In return, the UK has been promised a 99-year lease on the base, in return for an average annual fee of £101m in current prices. The government estimates this will mean a total cost of £3.4bn.

These islands are currently governed by the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), and have been in some form since 1814. In 1965, the UK and US officially detached the islands from Mauritius for joint defence purposes, creating a separate colony and forcibly removing native Chagossians soon after.

Mauritius will be free to arrange the resettlement of Chagossians on all islands in the archipelago under the terms, except for Diego Garcia.

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Mr Trump appeared to indicate his support for the deal last year, telling Sir Keir during his visit to the White House in February that he was “inclined to go with your country” and that he had “a feeling it’s going to work out very well”.

International law had long called into question the UK’s sovereignty over the BIOT, with the feeling largely mirrored by the Chagossian community.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on the arrangement, finding that the UK had an “obligation” to bring its administration of the islands to an end “as rapidly as possible”.

This was not a legally binding judgement, and the Conservative administration in power at the time disagreed with it.

Less than a year after his election victory, Sir Keir announced that Labour was taking a different approach and striking a deal with Mauritius. This is “absolutely vital” for the “safety and security of the British people”, he said.

The government argues that the deal will guarantee the Diego Garcia base for the long term, avert the risk of future legal judgments affecting the UK’s ability to use the base, and secure the base and islands against China or other states that may want to set up a presence there.

Following Mr Trump’s comments, a government spokesperson said: “The UK will never compromise on our national security. We acted because the base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it from operating as intended in future.

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“This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out.”

“It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all other Five Eyes allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea.”

The decision to pull the deal comes as Trump disparaged the agreement on Tuesday as a “great act of stupidity”, despite his government having previously been content with the terms.

But a Labour source in the Lords said that the US president’s remarks had no bearing on the decision to reschedule the Bill for another day, instead blaming a counter-response from Tory peers to the deal.

They said: “It is simply a response to Tory peers having flexed their much greater numbers in the House by tabling a wrecking amendment to a government bill just hours before the end of business ahead of a scheduled debate on the next sitting day.”

The Tory amendment, which has not appeared on Parliament’s website but was seen by the Press Association, also called for the government to ensure the Chagos deal does not breach a 1966 treaty signed with the US, which confirms British sovereignty of the islands.

It would also ensure ministers give the Chagossian people, banished from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s, a “formal” say over the deal.

The later stages of parliamentary scrutiny, which the Chagos Deal is currently in, are known as “ping pong”, where it bounces back and forth between the Commons and Lords as they attempt to amend elements of it.