Chagos deal suffers ‘humiliating’ defeats as government loses four votes

Sir Keir Starmer has suffered four “humiliating” defeats in parliament over plans to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The archipelago is home to the British Indian Ocean Territory, and its largest island, Diego Garcia, hosts a joint US-UK military base.

Now plans to transfer the islands back to Mauritius have suffered a setback, after the House of Lords inflicted four defeats on the government’s deal.

What were they?

The first defeat concerned proposals to lease Diego Garcia back from Mauritius for 99 years, at the cost of some £101m per year.

An amendment was proposed that payments to Mauritius should stop if the Diego Garcia base could no longer be used. The government opposed it, but was defeated by eight votes.

The Lib Dems then dealt the government a second blow with an amendment proposing that Chagossians in the UK should get a referendum on the deal.

A third defeat came in the form of a Tory amendment that would force ministers to publish detailed costings of payments to Mauritius.

Then the government faced a final defeat when the Lib Dems proposed that parliament be given oversight of spending linked to the treaty, allowing MPs to stop payments to Mauritius if it breaches the terms of the deal.

Tories condemn ‘terrible’ legislation

But the government did manage to narrowly defeat a proposal to stop the islands being handed over unless the move was backed by a majority of Chagossians in a referendum.

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said Labour had faced a “humiliating defeat”.

She added: “Keir Starmer is weak and incapable of standing up for Britain at home and abroad. Britain’s defence and security are at risk because of this terrible legislation.”

The deal will now return to the House of Commons, where the government will have the chance to throw out the Lords’ amendments.

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How did we get here?

Negotiations between the UK and Mauritius over the islands began in 2022, when the Conservatives were in office.

Formerly a French possession, the Chagos Islands were ceded to Britain in 1814 and formed into the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965.

Britain displaced its local population in the early 1970s and since then only military personnel have been allowed access.

Mauritius has long sought sovereignty over the islands, taking its case to the International Court of Justice, which agreed Britain was obliged to end its administration over the territory.