Starmer signs deal to hand Chagos Islands to Mauritius

Islanders fail to block agreement with last-minute challenge

- DAVID MADDOX, ARCHIE MITCHELL & MILLIE COOKE

Sir Keir Starmer has formally signed an agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after a scramble to prevent a further legal challenge following a last-minute injunction to halt the move failed yesterday morning.

The deal will see the UK give up sovereignty of the island territory to Mauritius with Sir Keir claiming the UK will pay £101m per year for 99 years to lease the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia back from the government, amounting to a total of £10bn over the course of a century.

However, confusion remains over how much the deal will really cost. While the government has insisted the “net value” of the deal will be £3.4bn, because of the impact of inflation, in cash terms, some estimates have put it at as much as £30bn over 99 years, assuming two per cent inflation.

The cash is set to come from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Foreign Office budgets, although the government has not yet decided how much each department will pay. But it will swallow up some of the extra cash allocated to the MoD in the recent decision to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.

There were also questions over the crucial electromagnetic spectrum that allows satellite communications, which Sir Keir claimed to have negotiated control of. The announcement said that the two nations would share management.

There was also alarm at a provision that means the UK must inform Mauritius ahead of any armed attack on a third state directly emanating from Diego Garcia. This was despite the prime minister’s official spokesperson claiming the UK has “full control” over what happens on the base.