When Sir Keir Starmer announced in October that he had reached an agreement with Mauritius to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago, he was met with fierce and sustained criticism. The deal essentially surrendered the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), one of the 14 remaining overseas territories, to the government of Mauritius, while salvaging a 99-year lease on the island of Diego Garcia, home to a strategically vital joint UK/US military and naval base. But the Prime Minister has unexpectedly been handed an opportunity to row back on this agreement. The question is, will he take it?
When the agreement was announced, opponents argued that the Prime Minister had endangered both British and American national interests by ceding the islands to a nation which has close economic ties with China. Critics gravely wondered aloud what the implications might be for other overseas territories subject to territorial claims, like the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar.
Mauritius has never exercised sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago as an independent nation
At first, the government was at least able to point to support from the White House, as President Joe Biden welcomed the settlement.
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