Pressure mounts on Starmer to scrap Chagos deal as Tories claim 'US deserves a say' on island's fate
An upcoming debate on Britain’s decision to handover the Chagos Islands was delayed after US backlash
The United States will “have to have a say” on the UK’s decision to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel has said as she echoed calls from Conservative colleagues to scrap the deal.
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Her comments follow a postponement to Parliament’s debate on the Bill, aimed at enshrining the Government’s handover deal in law, which was due to be held on Monday.
The Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill will be rescheduled until a later date after the Conservatives tabled an amendment calling for a pause “in light of the changing geopolitical circumstances”.
In the amendment, the Tories demanded the Government ensure the Chagos deal does not breach a 1966 treaty signed with the US which confirms British sovereignty of the islands.
The delay to the Bill’s parliamentary journey comes at the end of a week in which US President Donald Trump had a change of heart over Britain’s agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Discussing the Bill on Times Radio on Saturday, Dame Priti Patel said the 1966 treaty with the US “is so important now”.
Read more: Chagos deal delayed after Trump blasted giveaway as 'act of great stupidity'
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She said: “Of course, the President of the United States … he basically said that this was a stupid act this week alone and I think, effectively, that has put this under more jeopardy for the Government.
“America will have to have a say on this because it is a treaty which would basically say, and it does say, the territory should remain and shall remain under UK sovereignty.
“And we’ve called upon ministers to ensure that this stays the same. And that, effectively, they’ve now got to enter discussions with the US administration just on this 1966 treaty all over again.
“Which clearly is going to be deeply uncomfortable for Keir Starmer, the Foreign Secretary and I suspect the Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, after the way in which they literally have promised the government of Mauritius so much money.”
It comes amid reports White House officials are lobbying Trump to stop the Chagos deal.
The archipelago in the Indian Ocean will be handed over to Mauritius under the deal.
But Britain will lease back a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, which is jointly used with the US, for at least 99 years.
Sources say the White House was likely “not to accept Mauritius sovereignty” as backlash over the deal has grown, the Telegraph reports.
The US president attacked the Chagos agreement on Tuesday, calling it “an act of great stupidity” in a marked change of stance.
It is not yet clear when the Bill will return to the House of Lords to be debated and complete its passage through Parliament.
A Labour source in the Lords said Mr Trump’s remarks had no bearing on the decision to reschedule the Bill for another day.
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 Conservatives’ Bill amendment would also ensure ministers give the Chagossian people, banished from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s, a “formal” say over the deal.
The Chagos Bill is currently in the later stages of parliamentary scrutiny known as “ping pong”, where it bounces back and forth between the Commons and Lords as they attempt to amend elements of it.