A Foreign Office minister has told MPs that moves to pave the way for the handover of the Chagos Islands have been paused, but government officials swiftly denied this, saying he had misspoken. Hamish Falconer, responding to an urgent question from Nigel Farage, said: “We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”
The government scrambled to contain the confusion, with a spokesperson insisting: “There is no pause. We have never set a deadline. Timings will be announced in the usual way.” Opposition parties, however, argued the comments reflected the reality of the UK’s position as the deal faces increasing pressure from Donald Trump, who last week called the handover to Mauritius “a big mistake”.
Peers in the House of Lords had been expecting to debate the bill this week, but those plans appear to have changed after Trump’s intervention on 18 February. The Conservative peer Ross Kempsell said: “We were all expecting to go into ping pong on the Chagos surrender bill this week. The government are now in total disarray and ministers are right to put this thing on ice.” Labour sources said the bill had never been formally tabled for discussion this week.
The shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, who is in Washington lobbying senior administration figures, seized on the minister’s comments, describing the deal as “an appalling act of betrayal”. She said: “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.”
Falconer told MPs that “the view of the United States president may well have changed but the treaty has not”. The confusion comes as polling suggests the issue has yet to cut through with voters, with 45% of those surveyed by YouGov having no view. Farage, who forced the urgent question, had earlier claimed the UK government blocked his attempt to travel to the Chagos Islands, a claim the government has not directly addressed.
