UK pauses Chagos payments and reviews deal after Trump criticism

UK pauses Chagos payments as Trump forces review

The UK government has paused multimillion-pound payments to Mauritius and is reviewing its agreement over the Chagos Islands after President Donald Trump said he did not support the deal and called it 'terrible' and 'ridiculous'.

The comments came during Andy Burnham's first face-to-face meeting with Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Burnham, now Prime Minister, said he would look at the deal again. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the current agreement could not go ahead without US support and that the UK would revise it to address the Trump administration's concerns.

Under the deal completed under Keir Starmer, the UK would hand sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius while leasing Diego Garcia back for 99 years. The UK would pay Mauritius around £100 million a year, with total costs put at about £34bn in today's prices. Some reports put the annual figure at £120 million. Diego Garcia is home to a joint UK-US military base.

Trump argued that Britain should not give up territory that hosts such an important military location. He said the base was strategically vital and complained that US B-2 bombers had to fly back to Missouri rather than use it for shorter missions. The US had initially endorsed the deal through Marco Rubio, but Trump later opposed it.

Supporters of the deal say it resolves legal uncertainty over Britain's administration of the islands and protects the future of the base. Critics say the 2019 International Court of Justice opinion was only advisory, that there is no legal imperative to hand over the islands, and that the UK is paying to give away what it already owns. The UK feared that a future binding ruling could put the base at risk.

The Chagos Archipelago is a group of about 60 islands in the Indian Ocean. In 2019 the ICJ said the islands belong to Mauritius, not the UK, and the UN General Assembly voted in favour of Mauritius. Mauritius argues Britain obtained the islands illegally. The UK government says it is not walking away from the deal but wants to rework it. The Conservatives and Reform UK want it scrapped.

The dispute has a human cost. Chagossians were expelled from the islands in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for the base. Many want the right to return. This week 104 Chagossians arrived at Manchester Airport after leaving Mauritius and claiming persecution. Twelve were held because they do not have British Chagossian passports, though they are partners or mothers of British Chagossian children. Interim first minister Lee Mandarin said Chagossians had faced discrimination for 60 years and criticised the Labour government.

Some campaigners welcomed Trump's intervention as a victory and said the deal had ignored Chagossian self-determination. Others said no outcome would allow Chagossians back to Diego Garcia, and that the debate had treated them as an afterthought. A 1966 agreement in which the US recognised British sovereignty over the islands is also said to complicate any transfer.

Diego Garcia has been used for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and against the Houthis. It lies about 1,800 miles from the Bab-el-Mandab Strait and the Malacca Strait, key routes for global energy supplies. In March, the UK allowed the US to use the base for bombing missions against Iran. Iran fired two missiles at the island in response, though without success.

Mauritius wants the deal ratified. Its Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, said Burnham had reiterated a commitment to work with the US towards ratification. Reports suggested the Mauritian Prime Minister would meet Jonathan Powell. Mauritius has said it is prepared to play a long game. For now, payments to Mauritius remain paused and the UK is looking for a version of the deal that Washington can support.