Starmer pauses Chagos Islands deal after Trump criticism | EUROtoday

The passage of Sir Keir Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal by means of parliament has been “paused” after Donald Trump urged the prime minister to scrap it, a minister has stated.

Foreign workplace minister Hamish Falconer stated on Wednesday that whereas the US had initially expressed its help for the deal, the US president’s intervention earlier this month was “very significant.”

Mr Falconer instructed MPs that the federal government was now “pausing” for discussions with the US earlier than bringing the Bill that may ratify the deal again to parliament.

“We have a process going through parliament in relation to the treaty,” he stated.

“We will bring that back to parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”

Last 12 months, Sir Keir agreed a controversial deal handy over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, whereas retaining management of the UK-US navy base on Diego Garcia.

The UK has agreed to pay Mauritius not less than £120m yearly throughout the 99-year settlement to lease again the positioning, a complete value in money phrases of not less than £13bn.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump hit at at Starmer in his second U-turn on help for the deal handy over UK sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius.

In a put up on Truth Social, the US president branded the transfer a “big mistake” due to issues over the joint UK-US navy base on the island of Diego Garcia.

His withdrawal of help got here after he appeared to point his help for the deal final 12 months, earlier than criticising the deal in January and once more in February.

Mr Falconer was answering questions on Wednesday from MPs together with Nigel Farage, who visited the unbiased archipelagic nation within the Indian Ocean over the weekend.

The Reform UK chief claimed the Maldives is poised to lodge a counter-claim relating to the Chagos Islands with the International Court of Justice “in just a few days”.

Mr Farage stated: “I wish to inform the government that we are just a few days away, in my opinion, from the Maldives issuing a counter-claim to the International Court of Justice to say, if anybody has the right to the sovereignty of those islands, it is the Maldives and not Mauritius.

“And I would urge you to pause all of this.”

Mr Farage had boarded a ship carrying meals and medicines getting ready to make the 24-hour journey to Ile du Coin, which sits 300 miles from the Maldives.

But sources instructed The Telegraph the plans failed as a result of UK authorities insisted that solely educated crew ought to be on board.

Mr Falconer branded this a “flagrant incident of ignoring travel advice”, whereas former defence secretary Ben Wallace hit out, saying that no MP can go to the archipelago with out pre-clearance and accusing him of performing Trump-style stunts.