UK Chagos Islands deal paused after legal action

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

A High Court judge has temporarily blocked a controversial deal for Britain to hand over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The deal was set to be signed virtually by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Mauritian government officials on Thursday.

However, early on Thursday morning Mr Justice Goose in London granted a stay of the deal after two Chagossian women brought a case against the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

A hearing in the case will be held on Thursday morning. The signing of the deal has been delayed until further notice. A press conference with British defence secretary John Healey was abruptly cancelled.

A lawyer for the claimant told the Financial Times on Thursday that his client was “deeply concerned” about the government’s approach to the deal.

“Our client is deeply concerned that the Government have chosen to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands without any consultation or protections for those that are indigenous to the Islands,” said Stuart Luke.

The deal involves Britain making a multibillion-pound payment to retain access to the Diego Garcia US-UK military base while transferring sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius.

The long-planned arrangement for the British Indian Ocean Territory has been heavily criticised by the opposition Conservative party, which has accused Starmer of giving up a key strategic asset and saddling taxpayers with large payments to retain access. 

But US criticism of the arrangement has been muted under President Donald Trump. The US and UK are set to retain access to the base under a 99-year lease.

Priti Patel, shadow UK foreign secretary, said on Wednesday that the deal would be “a betrayal of our national interest by Labour, conveniently timed for the last day before parliamentary recess”.