Donald Trump’s team are seeking assurances that the controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will not be completed before his inauguration in January.
The Independent recently revealed that the president-elect is looking for ways to veto the agreement because of concerns over its security implications in the Indian Ocean with the crucial joint UK/US base on Diego Garcia.
There are also concerns that the deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy will allow China access to the islands to build their own rival base.
The deal, which has the blessing of outgoing US president Joe Biden, was not meant to be completed until the spring. But the UK prime minister’s envoy Jonathan Powell, who is set to be the national security adviser, is flying to Mauritius today for talks with its prime minister to complete the deal.
The talks are being described as “a crucial working meeting” with “the objective of deepening the discussions and finalise the ends of the Anglo-Mauritian treaty on the Chagos Archipelago, as well as the details of the 99-year lease for the American military base in Diego Garcia”.
Both Chagossians and Trump’s team fear it is also an attempt to fast track the deal to get it completed before Mr Trump could try to veto it.
It comes as figures preparing to be part of the Trump administration team have set up discussions with UK critics of the deal who helped organise the initial legal advice to provide grounds for the president-elect to veto the deal.
While the initial concerns were raised with Trump by Nigel Farage, it is understood that Tory shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, another hardline Brexiteer, is being “kept in the loop” to try to help the Trump team scupper Sir Keir’s Chagos plans.
The Trump team members have been asking about parliamentary timetables to see if the deal could be pushed through quickly but also looking for “off ramps”, solutions to allow Starmer to drop the deal but save face at the same time.
A source told The Independent: “There are many options in this regard.”
One of the options is to use the recent change of government in Mauritius as a reason to rethink the deal.
A Brexiteer parliamentary researcher working directly with the Trump team told The Independent: “They couldn’t understand why it was agreed and whether it was Biden or Starmer.”
Trump’s team are said to be “relieved” that it would be very hard using the parliamentary timetable to push the deal through early.
However, the meeting between Mr Powell and the prime minister of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam today is raising concerns.
Added to that, Chagossian islanders, who have been excluded from the process, are furious that they continue to be kept out of the talks by the Labour government.
They have launched a judicial review into the deal which is set to be heard on 5 December and could also potentially hold it up.
A spokesperson for Chagossian Voices said: “Both sides seem to be moving at speed, and both governments are keeping Chagossians away from the treaty. We’ve had no involvement at all. The Chagossian community is asking to be involved in the future of their own islands.”
Mr Lammy recently defended the deal in an interview with The New Statesman where he pointed out that it guaranteed use of the base for at least 99 years.
He added: “I’m very confident that when the new administration looks at the detail of this deal that they will stand behind it because Donald Trump knows what a good deal looks like [a reference to his 1987 book The Art of the Deal] – and this is a good deal.”
However, the government has resisted publishing the costs of leasing back the base.
The Independent has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We are working with the new Mauritian government to progress a landmark deal that protects our base; it secures the long-term protection of the base.”
“Our position remains unchanged. We’re finalising the details of the treaty, which will come forward for scrutiny as part of the ratification process next year. There has not been any change to the timelines.”
They added: “We look forward to working with the incoming administration on a wide range of priorities including on national security and on economy and defence.”
