Is the Chagos deal dead in the water?

Is the Chagos Islands deal dead? Ever since Keir Starmer and his foreign secretary David Lammy announced plans to hand the remote archipelago to Mauritius, the UK government has been accused of risking national security. The proposed agreement would end 200 years of British rule and impact the US air base on the island of Diego Garcia. While the deal would allow the base to continue for ‘99 years’, there are worries this is a long term strategic error and that Mauritius, a trade ally of China, could allow Beijing to spy on the airfield.

On Tuesday, the UK government was dealt a further blow as the new prime minister of Mauritius said the deal was not good enough and must be renegotiated. Rejecting the deal, Navinchandra Ramgoolam told the Mauritian parliament it ‘would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect from such an agreement.’