UK to review Chagos Islands deal over lack of US support, Streeting tells BBC
Officials are reviewing the agreement after President Donald Trump withdrew support, leaving the 99-year Diego Garcia lease and £3.4 billion plan in doubt.
- On Wednesday, the UK government launched a review of its agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, with Defence Secretary Wes Streeting confirming no payments will be made "at this stage" while officials reassess the deal.
- The review follows President Donald Trump's public criticism during his Tuesday meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham; Trump previously branded the deal a "terrible" "act of total weakness" and "a blight on our great ally."
- Under the 99-year agreement signed in 2025, Britain would cede sovereignty while paying an average of $136m annually to lease the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, a site officials describe as critical for collective security.
- Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called on Burnham to "just scrap this terrible deal," while Labour MP Dan Carden described the original agreement as "disastrous" in response to the review.
- Streeting emphasized that the government must work with the United States to reach a resolution, stating the focus is to secure "long-term certainty for the base on Diego Garcia," the archipelago's largest island.
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The American president described the agreement to cede the islands to Mauritius as "horrible" and called on Burnham to reconsider it.
The Independent
The Independent (US)Chagos deal ‘can’t go ahead without US support’, Wes Streeting admits
Andy Burnham undertakes to review the terms agreed upon after years of negotiations and a legal process over the US President's complaints about the use of a military base in the Indian OceanThe UK returns to Mauritius an archipelago colonized in the Indian Ocean Two years after the announcement of the agreement to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after decades of negotiations and a decision of the International Court of Justice, the Briti…
GREAT Britain is reviewing the agreement on the transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. This comes after US President Donald Trump called the deal 'terrible' and withdrew support.
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