The UK was forced to suspend plans to hand over the Chagos Islands, home to US Air Force Diego Garcia, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the deal.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government have not completely abandoned plans to hand over the island to Mauritius. “We continue to believe this agreement is the best way to protect the long-term future of the base,” a spokesperson told CNN.
However, it is understood that there is not enough time left in the current parliament to enact the agreement into UK law.
The British government has long argued that it cannot proceed with a deal without US support, and it is understood that an exchange of notes with Washington, which is the normal procedure before a treaty is enacted, has not yet been concluded.
According to The Times, the bill will not be included in next month’s King’s Speech, which will set the British government’s legislative agenda for next year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the report.
“Diego Garcia is an important strategic military asset for both the UK and the US,” a British government spokesperson told CNN.
“Ensuring long-term operational security is and continues to be our priority and is the entire reason for the agreement,” they added. “We will continue our relationship with the United States and Mauritius.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
When the deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which claims sovereignty over the Indian Ocean territory, was first announced, the United States fully supported it.
Under the proposed deal, Britain and the United States would continue to have access to the Diego Garcia base, the largest in the Chagos archipelago, as Britain would pay Mauritius a 99-year lease of 101 million pounds ($136 million) a year.
But President Trump later withdrew his support, attacking the deal in January as “a very stupid thing” amid a general deterioration in U.S.-European diplomatic relations over his plans for Greenland. And in February, he doubled down on that position, writing, “Don’t let Diego Garcia go!” In a post on Truth social, he added that the base could be used for any operations against Iran.
According to multiple British media reports in February, Mr. Starmer ultimately blocked President Trump’s request to allow the US military to use British air bases, including Diego Garcia, for offensive operations against Iran.
British control of the islands is a vestige of its colonial past. In 1965, an agreement between the United States and Britain separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, and three years later Mauritius gained independence, although the Chagos Islands remained under British control. Over time, many Chagossians were expelled from the island to make space for a military base, and most were resettled in Mauritius, more than 1,000 miles away.
First built in 1971, Diego Garcia Military Base has become Washington’s most important overseas asset, helping launch two invasions of Iraq and serving as a key landing site for bombers flying across Asia.
However, Mauritius has claimed sovereignty over the islands for decades, and in 2019 the International Court of Justice ruled that Britain must return them to Mauritius “as soon as possible”.
Although the ruling was not legally binding, successive British governments have used it as a test of the country’s commitment to international law, as the country faces growing international pressure to comply.
