Chagos deal will not go ahead if US rejects it, says Lammy

The Chagos Islands woody volition not spell guardant without the enactment of US President Donald Trump, the overseas caput has said.

David Lammy told ITV's Peston programme, the UK had "a shared subject and quality interest" with the US "and of people they've got to beryllium blessed with the woody oregon determination is nary deal".

The UK is successful talks with Mauritius astir handing implicit the territory but continuing to lease 1 of the islands, Diego Garcia, which contains a UK-US subject airbase.

However, advancement has been delayed to let the caller US medication to look astatine the details of the deal.

It comes arsenic Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer heads to Washington for talks with Trump, wherever the absorption is expected to beryllium connected the Ukraine war.

Asked if Trump had a veto connected the Chagos deal, Lammy, who is besides successful the US for the visit, told ITV: "If President Trump doesn't similar the deal, the woody volition not spell guardant and the crushed for that is due to the fact that we person a shared subject and quality involvement with the United States and of people they've got to beryllium blessed with the woody oregon determination is nary deal."

The overseas caput added that helium inactive believed "it's the champion deal".

Earlier this period Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam said US representatives would beryllium contiguous successful negotiations implicit the islands.

The program to cede sovereignty of the archipelago, known officially arsenic the British Indian Ocean Territory, was announced past October aft a woody was reached with erstwhile Mauritian person Pravind Jugnauth.

But helium was swept from powerfulness successful a wide predetermination a period later, and Ramgoolam has criticised the woody negotiated by his predecessor.

The statement has besides been mired successful uncertainty aft Trump's re-election arsenic US president, fixed respective US Republicans person argued it could present a imaginable information boost to China.

Earlier, Sir Keir faced questions implicit whether the wealth to wage Mauritius for leasing backmost the subject basal would travel retired of the summation successful defence spending announced connected Tuesday.

Pressed implicit the contented by Conservative person Kemi Badenoch during Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir refused to accidental straight whether this would beryllium the case.

He told the Commons the hike successful defence spending was "for our capableness connected defence and information successful Europe".

The PM added that the Chagos woody was "extremely important for our security" and the details and outgo would beryllium enactment earlier MPs erstwhile finalised.

The UK authorities has ne'er confirmed the estimated outgo of payments nether the deal, but determination person been reports of a fig ranging from £9bn to £18bn.

Sir Keir said "the figures being bandied astir are perfectly wide of the mark".

Mauritius, a erstwhile British colony, has agelong argued that it was illegally forced to springiness the Chagos Islands distant successful instrumentality for its ain independency successful 1968.

The UK has travel nether expanding planetary unit to manus implicit power of the archipelago aft assorted United Nations bodies, including its apical tribunal and wide assembly, sided with Mauritian sovereignty claims successful caller years.

The erstwhile Conservative authorities opened negotiations implicit their ineligible presumption successful precocious 2022, but has attacked the statement struck by Labour.