Keir Starmer was dramatically blocked from signing a deal to give away the Chagos Islands today.
The Prime Minister had hoped to announce the highly controversial handover of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius – a move branded a ‘surrender’ by critics.
Sir Keir was due to attend a virtual ceremony alongside representatives from the Mauritian government this morning to sign off on the deal.
It is expected to see Mauritius handed billions of pounds in rent for Diego Garcia, an island in the territory that is home to a major UK/US airbase.
But in the early hours of this morning it emerged a High Court has granted an injunction stopping the negotiations being concluded.
Mr Justice Goose granted ‘interim relief’ to Bertrice Pompe, one of two Chagossian women who had previously launched legal action over the deal, at 2.25am.
She and Bernadette Dugasse were born on Diego Garcia and are fighting for the islands to remain under British control and the right to return there to live. The Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the base.
A new hearing is taking place at the High Court this morning as ministers seek to go ahead with the deal.
Mr Justice Chamberlain was told that the deal is ‘time-critical’ but can still be completed on Thursday.
Sir James Eadie KC, for the Foreign Office, told the High Court that ‘damage has already flowed’ from the delays caused to the signing of the deal over the Chagos Islands – also known as the British Indian Overseas Territory – by the injunction being issued.
Bertrice Pompe and Bernadette Dugasse were born on Diego Garcia and are fighting for the islands to remain under British control and the right to return there to live. A new hearing is taking place at the High Court this morning as ministers seek to go ahead with the deal.
The Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the base (pictured)
The PM was due to attend a virtual ceremony alongside representatives from the Mauritian government this morning to sign off on the deal
He said: ‘The national security angle is obvious. The British Indian Overseas Territory includes Diego Garcia, and Diego Garcia is an essential and utterly important base from which the United States and the United Kingdom, very often jointly, operate, and therefore the preservation of that facility is of the utmost importance to UK national security.’
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said: ‘Today’s legal intervention is a humiliation for Keir Starmer and David Lammy.’
Under the terms of the agreement, Britain is expected to give up sovereignty of the island territory to Mauritius, and lease back a crucial military base on the archipelago for 99 years. That was expected to cost £90million a year.
The Government has argued that it has to give up sovereignty over the islands due to international legal rulings in favour of Mauritius.
Following the signing ceremony, MPs were due to be updated on the terms of the deal in the House of Commons, which could include a 40-year extension to the lease of the military base.
A High Court hearing is now expected to take place at 10.30am.
The judge said in his order: ‘The defendant shall take no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer.’
Mr Justice Goose’s order continued: ‘The defendant shall in particular not dispose of the territory in whole or in part.
‘The defendant is to maintain the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom over the British Indian Ocean Territory until further order.’
Mr Justice Goose granted ‘interim relief’ to Bertrice Pompe, one of two Chagossian women who had previously launched legal action over the deal, at 2.25am.
According to the order, the judge granted the injunction ‘upon consideration of the claimant’s application for interim relief made out of court hours’ and ‘upon reading the defendants’ response’.
A Government spokeswoman said: ‘We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.’
Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, is home to a joint UK-US military base, used to project Western influence in the Indian Ocean.
Critics of proposals to hand over the islands to Mauritius fear the move will benefit China, which has a growing reach in the region.
News reports recently suggested the deal had been delayed, with the Times newspaper claiming it had become ‘toxic’ amid criticism from Labour’s political opponents.
The Conservatives are among those which have criticised Labour’s handling of the negotiations, though they began discussing the handover with Mauritius when they were in power.
Speaking in the the House of Commons just this week, Defence Secretary John Healey insisted the base on Diego Garcia was ‘essential to our security’, and the UK’s security relationship with the US.
‘We’ve had to act, as the previous government started to do, to deal with that jeopardy, we’re completing those arrangements and we’ll report to the House when we can,’ he added.
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