UK Puts Chagos Islands Deal on Hold to Avoid “Toxic Backlash”

Downing Street has delayed plans to hand over the Chagos Island to Mauritius, amid fears of a “toxic backlash” from Labour MPs over the cost of the multi-billion pound settlement. The Times has the story.

Senior Government sources said an agreement with Mauritius was “ready to sign” after President Trump lifted US objections to the plan in February.

But No 10 has put the deal on hold amid concerns that it will result in a “toxic” political backlash at a time when Labour MPs are being asked to vote for welfare cuts.

Ministers have refused to reveal the final cost of the deal, but the figure is understood to be in the region of £90 million a year for the next century.

At the point at which the agreement is signed ministers will have to publish details of the financial settlement, which aides to Starmer fear will fuel a backbench rebellion over the Government’s welfare reforms.

The Times understands that up to 170 MPs have privately warned ministers that they could vote against the plans or abstain in a vote next month on the measures, which are due to cut £5 billion from the welfare bill.

One source said that senior political figures in Downing Street had successfully argued internally that it was politically “toxic” to sign the Chagos deal while trying to justify the need to cut welfare spending.

“They know that they’re going to be attacked by the Tories and Reform for giving up sovereignty of the Chagos islands but it makes it much worse if they’re also being attacked from their own side,” they said.

“The deal is ready to go but Downing Street is refusing to give it the green light.”

Another source said that the Foreign Office and Starmer’s national security advisor Jonathan Powell, who negotiated the deal, were still pushing for him to sign it but were facing an uphill struggle.

“Everyone on the political side has overreacted to the local election results,” they said.

“There is a huge reluctance to do anything that could be controversial.”

A third source said: “I don’t think we’ll be hearing about Chagos for a while. They want to take the sting out of it.”

Worth reading in full.

Meanwhile, Mauritius has sparked fresh security fears over the deal after announcing it would seek a closer relationship with China. From the Telegraph:

The Chinese ambassador to Mauritius said she supported “deepening full-fledged exchanges and co-operation between China and Mauritius” after a meeting with the country’s Prime Minister on Thursday. …

The Foreign Office says it has no security concerns about leasing the Diego Garcia military base from Mauritius, and insists that the deal will contain security guarantees to prevent Chinese influence.

But the meeting provoked fury from Dame Priti Patel, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, who said it showed Sir Keir had endangered British and American interests by signing away the islands.

“This is exactly what we have been warning the Government of from the very start,” she told the Telegraph.

“Fuelled by their endless sense of shame about our great country, and their Leftist decolonising ideologies, Labour have rushed to surrender our own sovereign territory, with zero consideration of who might benefit from this shameful giveaway.

“It is clear Labour are far more concerned with kowtowing to Beijing to recognise the threat that China poses to our interests, and this shoddy affair is yet another example. When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.”