Donald Trump has been urged to block the controversial Chagos Islands deal – with critics warning it could cost as much as £47billion.
British politicians have written to the US President raising concerns that the agreement is a ‘deliberate act of strategic self-harm’ by the UK.
The letter, signed by more than 40 ex-ministers, comes ahead of his state visit to Britain when he will meet Sir Keir Starmer for talks.
Among the signatories are former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, ex-defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps and former home secretary Suella Braverman.
A Labour MP, peers, military veterans, legal experts and national security professionals have also signed.
They warn that surrendering the islands would gravely undermine US and UK security interests, particularly by jeopardising the US base on Diego Garcia.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister struck a deal to hand over the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius following a legal battle.
Donald Trump (pictured) has been urged to block the controversial Chagos Islands deal – with critics warning it could cost as much as £47billion
Pictured: the Diego Garcia base from above. British politicians have written to the US President raising concerns that the agreement is a ‘deliberate act of strategic self-harm’ by the UK
The letter, signed by more than 40 ex-ministers, comes ahead of his state visit to Britain when he will meet Sir Keir Starmer for talks
The UK will give up the islands by the end of the year and lease back the military base for 99 years.
The Government claims the deal will cost £3.4 billion. But the TaxPayers’ Alliance said yesterday it could cost as much as £47 billion due to market predictions of a higher rate of inflation than that used by the Government.
Mr Trump signed the deal off, according to No 10, before it was formally agreed. He told Sir Keir in February he was ‘inclined to go with your country’ over the Chagos deal and that he had ‘a feeling it’s going to work out very well’.
But the letter’s signatories say the deal would place Diego Garcia under the jurisdiction of a state bound by the Pelindaba Treaty, Africa’s nuclear weapon-free zone agreement, creating a dangerous legal ambiguity over US nuclear-capable operations.
Among the letter’s signatories are former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith (pictured), ex-defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps and former home secretary Suella Braverman
Mauritius, under sustained foreign influence, could be pressured into inspections, legal disputes or restrictions that would erode US deterrence and diminish Western security, they add.
Appealing directly to Mr Trump, they say: ‘You have built your reputation on refusing to cede strategic ground to those who would weaken America.
‘We urge you to use your influence, publicly and privately, and your prerogatives under the US-UK defence agreement of 1966 to oppose this surrender.’
The UK Government has scheduled a second reading of the Chagos Bill this week despite a judicial review due in November.
