No 10 declines to commit to reintroducing Chagos Bill amid US opposition

Handing the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius remains the best way to secure a vital military base, Downing Street has insisted amid uncertainty over legislation enacting the deal.

Legislation handing sovereignty over the islands to Mauritius appears to have been shelved in the face of US opposition.

US President Donald Trump has gone back and forth on the issue, at times supporting the deal and on other occasions opposing it.

But in recent weeks he has appeared to harden his stance against the agreement that would see Britain lease back a joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia for 99 years.

On Monday, Downing Street acknowledged that Mr Trump’s opposition meant the Bill enacting the deal had run out of parliamentary time ahead of the King’s speech on May 13.

But despite insisting the agreement was “the best way to protect a vital base on Diego Garcia”, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman would not commit to bringing back the legislation in the next parliamentary session.

Asked repeatedly whether the Government would reintroduce the Bill, he said: “I’m not going to get ahead of or speculate on what is in the King’s speech, and any legislation will be announced in the usual way.”

Parliament has already agreed to “carry over” five Bills from the current session, meaning debate on them can continue after May 13, but the Chagos Bill is not among them.

The spokesman added that UK officials would “now discuss next steps with the US and the Mauritians”.

Under the terms of the deal agreed last year, Britain will hand sovereignty over the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius but lease back the Diego Garcia base for 99 years.

The deal will also see the UK pay an average of £101 million a year to Mauritius over that period, totalling around £3.4 billion according to official figures.

But opponents of the deal have said the real cost could amount to around £35 billion, adjusting for inflation, and argued it puts the base at risk and could open the door to China establishing a presence on the archipelago.

Although the agreement has been signed by both the UK and Mauritius, it has not yet been ratified and no payments have been made.