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The UK is set to sign a controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as soon as Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal, which is expected to see the UK agree a multibillion pound payment to retain access to the Diego Garcia US-UK military base while transferring sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, has been keenly awaited due to the site’s strategic importance.
The long-planned arrangement for the British Indian Ocean Territory has been heavily criticised by the opposition Conservative party, which has accused UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of giving up a key strategic asset and saddling taxpayers with large payments to retain access.
But US criticism of the arrangement has been muted under President Donald Trump. The US and UK are set to retain access to the base under a 99-year lease.
Priti Patel, shadow UK foreign secretary, said on Wednesday that the deal would be “a betrayal of our national interest by Labour, conveniently timed for the last day before parliamentary recess”.
After the UK’s conclusion of a post-Brexit reset in relations with Brussels earlier this week, “it seems Starmer is now set on further humiliating this country by handing over our own sovereign territory to Mauritius, and then asking the British public to pay billions for the indignity of it”, she said.
Labour has previously said the deal will not be finalised until it has been ratified by MPs.
Party officials have argued that the deal was initiated under the previous Conservative government and that it was essential to reach an agreement over the islands’ sovereignty under international law.
The UK government handed the US administration a veto in effect over the draft agreement, given its security implications for a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.
But when Trump hosted Starmer at the White House in February, he signalled that he would support the deal that the UK had negotiated with Mauritius, in what was viewed as an important victory for the British prime minister.
The president’s support for the deal came as a relief to the UK because some Trump administration officials, including former national security adviser Mike Waltz, had raised concerns about the arrangement before joining the White House.
“The prerogative of President Trump is to secure long-term US operations from Diego Garcia,” a White House official said on Wednesday. “President Trump discussed this with PM Starmer during his visit to the White House. The United Kingdom is proceeding with the deal.”
