Keir Starmer tonight pulled his deal to surrender the Chagos Islands.
Days after Donald Trump blasted the UK for ‘an act of great stupidity’ in signing the strategically important archipelago away, Labour withdrew the legislation from a planned debate in the House of Lords on Monday.
While sources claimed it was just a delay to the process, critics said that without US support, it was effectively dead.
Conservative peer Daniel Hannan said: ‘We have secured a breathing space. It is now up to Trump and the people around him. If the president sticks to what he said this week, the deal is off. If he allows himself to be talked around by the State Department’s permanent officials, it will come back.’
He added: ‘It is, I admit, a humiliating thing for Britain that the final decision should be in the hands of our American allies. We ought to have put a stop to the whole business ourselves. Still, for the first time in 14 months, I am starting to think we might win.’
Last year, Sir Keir signed an agreement with China-ally Mauritius that would see Britain cede sovereignty but pay billions of pounds to lease back the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
Despite the Biden White House signing off the sale, there was hope among critics that Mr Trump would scupper it when he began his second term.
Then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy even said there would be no deal without the President’s support.
Keir Starmer tonight pulled his deal to surrender the Chagos Islands days after Donald Trump blasted the UK for ‘an act of great stupidity’ in signing the strategically important archipelago away
Starmer’s deal would see Britain cede sovereignty but pay billions of pounds to lease back the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia (pictured), the largest of the islands.
Last May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Washington ‘welcomed’ the deal, saying it secured the ‘long-term, stable, and effective operation’ of Diego Garcia, which he described as a ‘critical asset for regional and global security’.
But this week, Mr Trump suddenly turned on the prospect as he feuded with Nato allies in his bid to take over Greenland in the ‘interests of US national security’.
A blast on his Truth Social site read: ‘Shockingly, our “brilliant” NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.
‘There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.
‘The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.’
Following his tweet, Mr Trump later told a White House press conference: ‘I think that when they originally were going to do it, they were talking about doing some concept of ownership but now they’re looking to essentially just do a lease and sell it. And I’m against that.’
Mr Trump is said to have changed his mind on the deal after warnings from his defence chiefs that the deal would make Diego Garcia less secure.
The move stunned Britain but saw Downing Street vow to press ahead regardless.
On Friday night, Labour sources insisted the deal was merely delayed and would be coming back to the table.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, however, said: ‘In the face of relentless Conservative pressure, Labour have pulled their shameful Chagos surrender bill from Monday’s House of Lords order paper.
‘This is a major victory for everyone standing against Keir Starmer’s disgraceful Chagos surrender.
‘The deal, which hands British sovereign territory and £35 billion to an ally of China, should be dropped altogether. The Conservatives will continue to fight the surrender every step of the way.’
Crossbench peer Kate Hoey, a former Labour MP, added: ‘Chagos Bill ping-pong vote due Monday in Lords now withdrawn by Government.
‘Government knows defeat was likely as many Labour Peers [are] now realising this is a Bill which was not in the manifesto, not in the UK national interest, is costing taxpayers billions and is being pushed by lawyers and ignoring Chagossians views.’
It comes after Conservative peers demanded to know if the deal complies with international law, for which both the PM and his Attorney General Lord Hermer are known to be sticklers.
The Tories warned the agreement would break a UN treaty signed between the UK and US in 1966 which stated: ‘The territory shall remain under United Kingdom sovereignty.’
In his letter to Foreign Office Minister, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, the Shadow Foreign Office Spokesman, Lord Callanan warned ‘this is in direct contradiction’ of the 2025 deal and so would ‘place the UK in breach of international law’.
Should the sale be dropped, it would mark yet another U-turn for Sir Keir’s time in office, having currently racked up 14 major reversals.
