Government Refutes Suggestions That Chagos Islands Agreement Could Result in £18 Billion Expenses

The UK has refuted claims that the cost of transferring the Chagos Islands could reach £18 billion and has challenged assertions made by the Mauritian prime minister regarding the revised agreement.

Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam informed the country’s National Assembly that he had renegotiated the deal to ensure that UK payments increased in line with inflation and to grant Mauritius an effective veto on extending the agreement beyond 99 years.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government intends to transfer the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius while leasing back the strategically important U.S.–UK military base on Diego Garcia.

The government argues that international legal decisions on sovereignty regarding the archipelago require the UK to transfer the islands to Mauritius.

Ramgoolam mentioned that the previous agreement, negotiated by his predecessor last year, allowed the UK to unilaterally extend the lease on Diego Garcia for 40 years, but the new terms now necessitate Mauritian consent.

He suggested that not tying payments to inflation would have reduced the amount going from UK taxpayers to Mauritius by half.

A government minister will need to address an urgent question in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage concerning the situation.

The UK has dismissed reports suggesting that the original deal was valued at £90 million per year for 99 years, totaling nearly £9 billion, which, if doubled, would amount to £18 billion.

The Foreign Office also affirmed that there had been no alterations to the extension terms.

A Foreign Office spokesman emphasized, “The figures being quoted are entirely inaccurate and misleading.

“There has been no change to the terms of extension in the treaty.

“The UK will only agree to a deal that serves our national interest.”

Following Ramgoolam’s statements, Downing Street did not refute what he had communicated to Mauritian lawmakers.

The proposed agreement still requires approval from President Donald Trump’s administration in the United States, where senior officials are apprehensive about anything that could weaken the American position on Diego Garcia.

Describing the previous deal struck with his predecessor as a “sellout,” Ramgoolam stated on Tuesday that the new agreement was clear on Mauritius’s sovereignty over the islands and that the UK’s annual payments under the lease would be tied to inflation and frontloaded, potentially doubling the amount Britain is obligated to pay.

He remarked, “We have to safeguard against inflation. What’s the use of receiving money only to have half of it left by the end? This is what would happen, and we have done the calculations.”

Conservative members in the UK, who initiated talks on relinquishing the Chagos Islands in 2022 but have criticized the deal since it was disclosed by Labour last year, seized on Ramgoolam’s comments.

Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, accused Starmer of prioritizing his views on our nation’s history over our national security and relationship with our closest ally.

She asserted, “He dares to inform the British public that they will foot the bill and bear the humiliation of his surrender of the Chagos Islands, while isolating the new U.S. administration by capitulating to Mauritius and emboldening our adversaries with his disastrous surrender deal.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch urged the prime minister to “appear before Parliament and be candid with MPs” about what she labeled a “foolish deal.”