Sir Keir Starmer has formally signed an agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after a scramble to prevent a further legal challenge following a last-minute injunction to halt the move failed on Thursday morning.
The deal will see the UK give up sovereignty of the island territory to Mauritius with Sir Keir claiming the UK will pay £101m per year for 99 years to lease the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia back from the government, amounting to a total of £10bn over the course of a century.
However, confusion remains over how much the deal will really cost. While the government has insisted the “net value” of the deal will be £3.4bn, because of the impact of inflation, in cash terms, some estimates have put it at as much as £30bn over 99 years, assuming two per cent inflation.
The cash is set to come from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Foreign Office (FCDO) budgets, although the government has not yet decided how much each department will pay. But, it will swallow up some of the extra cash allocated to the MoD in the recent decision to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
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There were also questions over the crucial electromagnetic spectrum that allows satellite communications, which Sir Keir claimed to have negotiated control of. The announcement said that the two nations would share management.
There was also alarm at a provision which means the UK must inform Mauritius ahead of any armed attack on a third state directly emanating from Diego Garcia. This was despite the prime minister’s official spokesperson claiming the UK has “full control” over what happens on the base.
Defending the deal, the prime minister said the UK had to “act now” because the Mauritians would likely win future legal disputes against Britain. Government security sources suggested legal challenges against the UK were expected to be brought “within weeks”.
Sir Keir said the UK’s base in the Chagos Islands is “one of the most significant contributions that we make to our security relationship with the United States”.
Speaking from the UK’s military headquarters after signing away the islands, the prime minister stressed the importance of maintaining control of a UK base.
He said: “Almost everything we do from the base is in partnership with the US.
“President Trump has welcomed the deal along with other allies, because they see the strategic importance of this base and that we cannot cede the ground to others who would seek to do us harm.”
“If Mauritius took us to court again, which they certainly would have, the UK’s longstanding legal view is that we would not have a realistic prospect of success and would likely face provisional measures orders within a matter of weeks,” he added.
The US welcomed the move with secretary of state Marco Rubio calling it a “historic agreement between the UK and Mauritius on the future of the Chagos Archipelago”.
“This agreement secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia, which is critical to regional and global security. We value both parties’ dedication. The US looks forward to our continued joint work to ensure the success of our shared operations,” he wrote in a post on X.
After revealing the true cost of the deal for the first time, Sir Keir insisted it was cheaper than the running cost of running an aircraft carrier.
Meanwhile, defence secretary John Healey said: “As the world becomes more dangerous, our military base on Diego Garcia becomes more important. Without this base, our ability to deter terrorists, defend our interests and protect our troops around the world would be at risk.”
And foreign secretary David Lammy highlighted that “the US, Australia, Canada and India all back this deal because they understand its importance for global security”.
Overnight, judge Sir Julian Goose kicked off 24 hours of drama by putting a last-minute pause on the treaty being signed at 3am on Thursday following hours of legal wrangling. The legal challenge focused on the grievances of the Chagossians who were expelled from Diego Garcia and prevented a 7am signing ceremony from taking place.
After an urgent hearing just hours later, Mr Justice Chamberlain dismissed the injunction.
Campaigners scrambled to appeal against the ruling but it is understood ministers moved at speed to prevent further challenges.
Admitting defeat, a member of the team behind the legal challenge told The Independent: “It’s a total apostasy toward the rule of law. They have cheated to avoid justice.”
Bertrice Pompe, one of two British women born on the Chagos Islands who brought the injunction, said it was “a very, very sad day” but “we are not giving up”.
Ms Pompe, is a Chagossian, who was born on Diego Garcia and expelled at six months old. A British national now living in London, Ms Pompe had argued that the deal would cause irreparable harm and violate fundamental legal and human rights principles.
The prime minister said failing to sign the treaty would have left the UK unable to prevent China or any other nation from setting up their own bases on the Chagos Islands or carrying out joint exercises near the Diego Garcia base.
“No responsible government could let that happen. So, there’s no alternative but to act in Britain’s national interest,” he added.
As well as questions over the costs of the deal, despite the PM slashing welfare spending and taking winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners, serious questions were also being asked about it being signed before MPs could see the details.
Tory shadow armed forces minister Mark Francois said: “This is absolute madness! At a time when this government of human rights lawyers is taking money away from millions of pensioners over winter fuel payments and restricting financial support to the disabled, they are now proposing to pay billions of pounds to Mauritius to rent back a key base we already own in the first place.
“Moreover, if this deal is ‘front loaded’ and largely comes out of the MoD budget, what will that do to the Strategic Defence Review?”
The Tories put out figures from the agreement suggesting that the cost over the term of the deal would be £30.3bn. This was based on handing over £165m a year for the first three years, £120m a year for years 4 to 13, then £120m plus inflation for years 14 to 99. The calculations were based on the Bank of England’s 2 per cent inflation target.
On top of that, there will be £45m a year for 25 years for development and a £40m one-off payment for a Chagossian fund.
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