It has been suggested that Donald Trump would be able to stop the Chagos deal. (Image: Getty)
Foreign Secretary suggested that could veto Sir Keir Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal “if he doesn’t like it”.
The UK is looking to hand over the territory to Mauritius while leasing out the island of Diego Garcia, which is home to a joint UK-US military airbase. However, it has been delayed while the Trump administration looks at its details.
Speaking on ITV’s Peston, Mr Lammy said that while he believed it was “the best deal”, it could still face issues from the new US president. He said: “If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, .
“The reason for that is because we have a shared military and intelligence interest with the United States and, of course, they’ve got to be happy with the deal or there is no deal.”
This comes after Downing Street did not rule out that money from increased defence spending could be used as
:
??????NEW ??????“If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward”Foreign Secretary suggests that Trump has a veto on the Chagos Island deal
— Peston (@itvpeston)
When asked about Sir Keir’s response to questions about whether any of the new money will be spent on the deal, his official spokesperson said details will be released in the future.
He said: “The uplift announced yesterday will be going on our military capabilities, technology, adopting cutting-edge capabilities that are vital to retain a decisive edge as threats rapidly evolve.”
He later added: “We’ll obviously present as and when it’s finalised.”
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Labour MP Calvin Bailey also accused the of sparking a debate over the Chagos deal to “maximise the chance of a damaging dispute” before Sir Keir and Mr Trump’s meeting.
He said: “The party opposite pretends to recognise the serious threats that we face, but bringing forward yet another debate on this topic, just as our Prime Minister heads out to Washington in order to broker a just peace for , is an act of blatant sabotage against our national interests.
“Yesterday we saw a superficial and unconvincing performance of consensus from the Opposition front bench, who cannot bring themselves to recognise this Government is delivering on national defence and security commitments.”