Allies of Trump have reportedly urged the President to block the deal. (Image: Getty)
Close allies of are reportedly urging him to block Sir ’s Chagos Islands deal, fearing it could allow to spy on the US military.
Top Republicans have called on the newly-inaugurated Commander-in-Chief to consign the deal to “the shredder for good” ahead of a call between the two world leaders this week, reports.
Labour announced in October a proposed deal that would relinquish sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, which is home to a joint UK-US military base, to Mauritius.
The agreement would see the base, on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, being leased back to Britain for 99 years at the cost of a reported £9billion, maintaining a UK-US military presence there.
But security experts have voiced alarm after Mauritius opened talks with about opening branches of the country’s universities. They’re concerned they could be used to spy on the military facility, following previous accusations of Tehran using academic exchange programmes set up spies in Germany, Sweden and the US.
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Starmer (Image: Getty)
John Kennedy, senator for Louisiana, told the newspaper: “If Mauritius is growing its friendships with and Iran, how can we expect it to keep our adversaries’ spies away from our base?”
“It’s hard to believe that and aren’t trying to pull Mauritius into their axis and away from the West,” he added.
Jim Risch, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also spoke out against the deal, telling the outlet on Friday, “I still have deep concerns about this deal”.
“Fortunately, I know that President understands that presents a tremendous threat to America and he knows that to protect our national security, now is the time to support a strong American and allied presence in the Indian and Pacific oceans,” he said, adding: “This deal would be a move in the wrong direction.”
Critics of the agreement, which includes Trump’s secretary of state Marco Rubio, also fear that handing over the islands to Mauritius, seen as an ally of China, will further open up the Indian Ocean to influence from Beijing.
Meanwhile, Mauritius’ Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, who came to power in November, has questioned the duration of the lease on base, further complicating the situation.
If the President does opts to scupper the agreement, it could result in an akward climbdown for Sir Keir, but Kennedy says US security is paramount.
“The UK is our ally, and Mauritius is our friend, but this is a matter of national security for the US,” he wrote.
“Anyone who expects the Trump administration to put the sensitivities of UN militants above the best interests of America and our allies is writing a check that can’t be cashed.
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Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is among those strongly opposing the deal. (Image: Getty)
He added: “The Chagossian, American, and British people would all be safer if this deal with Mauritius found its way into the shredder for good.”
The reported that there were thought to have been efforts to get the deal, which had been greenlit by the Biden administration, signed ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20, something Downing Street denied.
On Wednesday the Prime Minister’s office said the Trump government would be given the chance to “consider” the deal.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch lambasted Sir Keir over the cost of the agreement at PMQs earlier this month, telling him: “There is no way that we should be giving up British territory in Chagos. He is rushing a deal which will be disastrous and will land taxpayers with a multi-billion pound bill.
She added: “Why does he the PM think British people should pay to surrender something that is already ours?”
In response, the PM said his government “inherited a situation where the long-term operation of a vital military base was under threat because of legal challenges”.
“The negotiations were started under the last government,” he added. “The then-foreign secretary came to this House to say why he was starting negotiations and what he wanted to achieve.
“He said the aim was to ‘ensure the continued effective operation of the base’. That is precisely this deal has delivered,” he added.
The UK Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.