The British government said it has “paused” progress on its law to give away the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, home to a significant joint UK-U.S. military and intelligence base, after President Trump denounced the plan as stupid and dangerous.
The bill to make Sir Keir Starmer’s treaty with Mauritius, to give the nation a chain of British islands in the Indian Ocean and to pay them for the privilege, has been “paused” to give the government time to negotiate with President Trump. While this announcement was made on Wednesday, there was a quick attempt to walk back the statement, apparently revealing a government in turmoil over one of its most cherished policies.
Hamish Falconer, a Foreign Office Minister, told Parliamentarians on Wednesday — after President Trump publicly told Prime Minister Starmer that Britain should not give up the islands “for any reason” — that: “There clearly has been a statement from the president of the United States more recently from the president, which is very significant.”
The government is now “discussing those concerns with the United States directly”, Falconer added, stating they would only now bring the Chagos Bill back to parliament “at the appropriate time” because “We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”
Until this announcement, the position of the government has been that it intends to press on with the Chagos giveaway in spite of any criticism of withdrawal of consent by the United States, and the bill was due to be put before the House again any day.
While President Trump’s interventions have been forthright and have been cited by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as crucial in scuppering Starmer’s controversial plan, the Labour government has also been warned internally that the terms of the new deal with Mauritius to take ownership of the land under one of the world’s most strategically sited military bases would actually break the terms of London’s original 1966 treaty with Washington.
This is a matter of great consequence for the United States. As previously reported:
the special treaty governing the use of the [Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands] obliges Washington to only “notify” London of its intention to launch strikes from the Indian Ocean, not seek permission.
The fact this advantageous arrangement could be torn up should Britain get away with giving the land away to satisfy the ruling of an international court likely underpins President Trump’s decision to object to the plan. According to analysis of the treaty by Policy Exchange, if Mauritius already had sovereignty over the islands today it is possible the Diego Garcia base would now be in the same legal position as Fairford, with the United States having to seek permission for strikes from the strategically vital runway.
Mauritius is observed to be becoming ever-closer to China’s orbit, and it was asserted that if strikes were launched they decided to objected to, then their government could declare themselves released from its treaty obligations. The Policy Exchange paper suggests this means Mauritius would then no longer be obliged to prevent potentially hostile third parties — like China — building their own military installations on other islands in the Archipelago. The paper further noted that Mauritius is already party to an anti-nuclear treaty, potentially further limiting the utility of the base and setting up future diplomatic flashpoints, all to China’s benefit.
There have been attempts to improve public sympathy for Sir Keir’s plan in recent days, with government insider Ben Judah apparently dispatched to tour the media explaining why making a deal is, actually, absolutely necessary. Yet this bid seems to have at best opened to scrutiny the paradox of the government’s position, that the alleged deep thinkers inside Whitehall do understand that the world is transitioning to a new era of national interest “great game” and hard power, but they somehow believe the most effective response to that is to double down on the rapidly vanishing internationalist rules based order.
The Chagossian people, who were displaced from the island in the 1960s to clear the way for the Diego Garcia military base, welcomed the government “pausing” the giveaway on Wednesday. A group of descendants of the inhabitants of the islands recently landed on the territory in a bid to re-establish a settlement.
The government has served them with an eviction notice. The Chagossians said: “The Prime Minister’s decision to pause the bill on the Chagos Islands has been welcomed by Chagossian leaders. They have warned Keir Starmer that the reoccupation of the islands is not a stunt and that they intend to press ahead with permanent resettlement of the archipelago.”
The self-proclaimed First Minister of the Chagossian government — in exile until last week — said: “Sir Keir Starmer has once again paused his attempt to hand over my homeland to Mauritius without the permission of my people.
“Thanks to the valiant efforts of supporters of the Chagossian cause, and the vital intercession of President Trump he has been forced to reconsider his ill-considered treaty with Mauritius. Any change to the status of the Chagos Islands must respect the wishes and self-determination of the Chagossian people.”
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