US EditionBritain could pay billions if Trump collapses Chagos deal
The UK risks paying £35 billion in taxpayer costs amid US opposition to the sovereignty transfer of the strategically vital Diego Garcia military base.
- On February 18, reports warned Britain could be forced to pay billions in compensation to Mauritius if Sir Keir Starmer's deal to transfer the Chagos Islands collapses under pressure from President Donald Trump.
- Under the deal signed last year, the UK agreed to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius while leasing back Diego Garcia, and Mauritius has won favourable rulings in international courts.
- President Donald Trump publicly urged Starmer not to surrender control of Diego Garcia on February 18, and described the legal basis as fictitious, raising the process's risk of failure.
- Facing a budget strain, Mauritius has pressed for front-loaded payments including Diego Garcia rent and development fund contributions, while officials fear treaty cancellation could trigger international legal action against Britain.
- Diego Garcia's strategic use this month underscores its importance, while the U.S. State Department welcomed the deal in May and U.S. naval planners voiced concerns about access, complicating UK–US basing relations.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Starmer's Chagos Lawyer Friend: Handover Deal Doesn't Empower China Because India Controls the Islands Now
Philippe Sands – Starmer’s close friend who has acted for Mauritius on the Chagos case for many years – has today said that the deal proposes no risk of Chinese expansion because Mauritius won’t do anything without India’s permission. Sands claimed the deal was “a win-win for everyone.” Not least himself seeing as he was…
Can Keir Starmer save the Chagos deal?
Keir Starmer’s painstakingly thrashed out plan to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is facing renewed challenge.Donald Trump originally backed the deal, under which the UK would relinquish sovereignty of the archipelago in return for a 99-year lease on the crucial US-UK Diego Garcia military base. But he began to waver after intense lobbying from US and UK politicians, including Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch. And no…
Backdown Britain, the US needs Diego Garcia
President Donald Trump has come out against British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to cede Diego Garcia, a small island in the Indian Ocean that is also a largely important U.S. military base. Trump called the proposal a “big mistake.” He’s right. Diego Garcia may be tiny, but its strategic importance looms large in a world where the United States and its allies face growing threats. Diego Garcia is the largest of the Chagos Islands, and the…
In the United Kingdom, the bill for surrender to Maurice des Chagos was scheduled to be considered this Monday, February 23rd in the House of Lords before being forwarded to the House of Commons for final adoption, but the review was postponed sine die. A decision that came after Donald Trump's new turnaround, urging London not to give up Diego Garcia, the main island of the archipelago, where an Anglo-American military base is located, is parti…
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