Government suddenly pauses Chagos Islands sovereignty deal
B-1 Bombers on Diego Garcia, Senior Airman Rebeca M. Luquin, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsTHE CHAGOS FILES can report exclusively that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met Jonathan Powell, Britain’s National Security Advisor, today. Presumably to discuss the war in Ukraine and a potential peace deal with Russia.
The Chagos Sovereignty deal may have been talked about too on the same day that No.10 has put on hold its negotiations on the Chagos Islands sovereignty deal with Mauritius according to British press reports today. Coincidence?
Putting the deal on ice follows over six months of talks between Government diplomats, special envoys and lawyers including Jonathan Powell.
According to a report by The Times today sources say the Government fears the high cost £9bn deal will lead to a “toxic” backlash from Labour MPs. They are currently being asked to vote for £5bn welfare cuts too.
A source told the newspaper that senior political figures in Downing Street have argued it is politically “toxic” to sign the expensive Chagos deal while trying to justify the need to cut welfare spending. “The deal is ready to go but Downing Street is refusing to give it the green light,” they said.
The Telegraph reports that there are increasing security concerns about the deal after a meeting between Ambassador Huang Shifang, China, and Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, Mauritius yesterday.
A spokesperson for the Mauritian government said the Chinese ambassador had “pointed out that Mauritius possesses strategic advantages.”
Critics of the deal warn that Beijing might use this relationship to gather intelligence on future military activities at the Diego Garcia military base, one of the Chagos Islands. “This is exactly what we have been warning the Government of from the very start,” said Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary.
No mention seems to have been made by Government sources concerning opposition by many Chagossian people. UK-based Chagossian organisations such as Chagossian Voices and BIOT Citizen campaign against the sovereignty deal.
Misley Mandarin of BIOT Citizen posted on Facebook today:
Lindsay Hoyle may have much to say about this news coming via a press report too and not directly to elected members of parliament in the House of Commons. This week in a highly charged exchange in the House, Hoyle criticised the Government for not taking the Ministerial Code - and by implication democracy - “seriously.”
In a statement a Downing Street spokesman said, “Work continues to deliver a deal that will protect the joint US-UK base, our national security and our intelligence gathering capabilities in the region.”
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Alexia Psalti/16 May 2025