Starmer deal over Chagos Islands in turmoil after Mauritius reopens talks

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Britain will refuse to hand over more money to Mauritius in its contested deal over the future of the Chagos Islands, UK officials have warned, as the issue flared up into a major dispute at Westminster.

The new prime minister of Mauritius has reopened talks about the future of the islands, plunging a deal drawn up with the UK by his predecessor into turmoil and creating a big political headache for British premier Sir Keir Starmer.

Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader, accused Starmer of “taking the knee” in international negotiations and said that he “gives things away for free”, denouncing the original deal struck with Mauritius’ previous government.

That accord included a financial settlement Britain is offering Mauritius and UK officials are adamant that it will not be renegotiated. “There is no more money — we are clear on that,” said one.

Britain had sought to secure an important US military base on the atoll of Diego Garcia by giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in the draft deal. 

Nigel Farage, Reform UK’s leader, has claimed that the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump had been “appalled” by the deal.

Now Mauritius’s new premier Navin Ramgoolam has said the proposed agreement, which has not been ratified by treaty, “would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect” and that negotiations had restarted.

Starmer’s spokesperson said the UK government was engaging with the new Mauritian administration, adding: “We remain confident that the agreement is in both sides’ shared interest.”

Another British official said: “It’s a good deal. You’d expect an incoming government to look at it.”

The official insisted that institutions in Washington — including the State Department, the Pentagon and White House — all backed the deal and argued that Trump would recognise that it made sense.

The UK did not say how much it would pay Mauritius under the deal with Pravind Jugnauth’s previous government in October but said there would be “an indexed annual payment for the duration of the agreement”, a “partnership” for infrastructure investment, and a trust fund for Chagossians.

Ramgoolam did not specify what Mauritius wants to renegotiate. People familiar with the government’s thinking told the Financial Times last month that there were concerns about the 99-year length of a lease the UK would acquire over the Diego Garcia base after the handover to Mauritius.

Ramgoolam’s push to renegotiate the Chagos deal is part of his sweeping rejection of the hallmark policies of Jugnauth, a longtime personal rival, since the November election. The two men represent political dynasties that have feuded ever since Mauritian independence in 1968.

This month Ramgoolam, who is serving as prime minister for a third time and has also taken the post of finance minister, accused Jugnauth’s previous government of falsifying GDP and debt figures for years in what is usually seen as one of Africa’s richest economies.

Badenoch is pressing the issue ahead of Westminster’s Christmas break, claiming that Starmer’s deal with Mauritius was part of a pattern of behaviour that had also seen him allegedly cave in to striking train drivers and seek accommodations with the EU.

“Labour will always take the knee,” she said, claiming that Starmer would make concessions to Brussels in 2025 to secure a better trading relationship, including accepting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in some areas.

“They get taken for a ride and give things away for free hoping the other side will be nice to them in exchange,” she said on X. “They put our national security at risk and agreed to give away the Chagos Islands and pay for it.”