Plans to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius are in disarray after the deal was condemned by Donald Trump, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has admitted. Multi-million-pound payments to Mauritius are on hold while the UK tries to “work through the detail of the US concerns”.
Mr Streeting said finding an arrangement backed by all parties would be “fiendishly difficult”. The admission follows the US president’s attack on the “terrible” deal during a meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham in New York.
UK treaty under review
The UK signed a treaty last May, agreeing to pay Mauritius £165 million a year in the first three years of the 99-year deal, dropping to £120 million annually from year four, in exchange for the continued operation of a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.
Mr Burnham insisted earlier this week that plans to cede control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius must go ahead. But Mr Streeting confirmed the plan was now under review.
“President Trump does not support this deal. That is material because we need the support of the Americans and the Mauritian government as well as the UK Government,” he said.
Payments paused
Asked whether the Government is reviewing the deal, Mr Streeting replied: “Yes, we have to, because the US doesn’t support it.”
“What President Trump said wasn’t new, but I think it does provide absolute clarity that his position on this Chagos deal as currently drafted is not changing.”
Asked whether the yearly payment would go ahead, the Defence Secretary said: “Not at this stage.” But he insisted it was still essential to come to an agreement.
“The reason why that is important is because we are trying to safeguard, not just now but for the longer term, the base at Diego Garcia and the capability it provides the United Kingdom and the United States for our national and collective security,” he said.
Political reaction
Mr Burnham appears to have promised Mr Trump during a private meeting that the UK will rethink the plans. Speaking to the media after the closed-door talks, Mr Trump said: “I think the Prime Minister’s going to be looking at it.” Mr Burnham agreed, saying: “Yep.”
Conservative Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: “It shouldn’t have taken another intervention from the president for Andy Burnham to ‘review’ Labour’s Chagos surrender deal.”
“If Burnham was really serious about our defence, he would know that this deal should be binned entirely. It is absurd to hand over British sovereign territory, not to mention billions of pounds of hard-pressed taxpayers' money, to an ally of China.”
“But while Labour still have a plan to surrender our territory and cash, they have no plan to get to 3% of GDP on defence. The Conservatives are the only party taking our national security seriously.”
Disinformation unit denied
Meanwhile, ministers have denied setting up a Big Brother-style force to police what people are saying online, after the Government announced a new body to tackle disinformation. A National Centre for Information Defence will fight attempts by Russian activists and other foreign agents to create divisions by spreading lies on the internet, said Mr Streeting.
“We’re not interested in policing domestic political dissent,” he added. “One of the great things about Britain, and one of the things that I have a responsibility to defend, is the freedom and democracy that we all enjoy. And that includes the freedom to disagree, the freedom for people to challenge their government.”
