Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has suffered a humiliating defeat in the House of Lords after peers backed demands for a renegotiation. The amendment, led by former military chiefs, was carried by 132 votes to 124, marking the fourth defeat for the prime minister in the upper house on the controversial agreement.
The proposed change requires the government to renegotiate terms so that payments to Mauritius would cease if the military base on Diego Garcia becomes permanently unusable for environmental or other reasons. Under the current 99-year leaseback deal, the UK has agreed to pay at least £120 million annually, totalling at least £13 billion in cash terms, though the government estimates a lower annual cost of £101 million.
Independent crossbencher Lord Houghton of Richmond, former chief of defence staff, said the bill makes no provision for revisiting payments if the base becomes unusable, warning that the treaty must cater better for future geopolitical uncertainty. Conservative shadow foreign minister Lord Callanan called it “unconscionable” that British taxpayers should continue funding Mauritius if the base becomes inoperable.
In response, Foreign Minister Baroness Chapman of Darlington insisted the treaty includes a mechanism for dealing with developments and is covered by international law. However, further defeats followed: the Lords backed a Liberal Democrat measure requiring a referendum among Chagossians on whether the deal guarantees their rights, and a Tory demand for detailed costing of the payments. Another Lib Dem amendment for parliamentary oversight, allowing MPs to halt payments if Mauritius breaches terms, was also approved.
Up to 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly removed from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s, with many now living in Britain. The World Court urged the UK in 2019 to return the islands to Mauritius, and a final deal was reached in May after years of negotiations. While the amendments are likely to be reversed when the bill returns to the Commons, they will delay formal agreement.
