Keir Starmer was today cleared to announce the UK’s ‘surrender’ of the Chagos Islands after a judge threw out an 11th-hour attempt to block it. Â
The Prime Minister’s plan to announce this morning that he was handing the archipelago to Mauritius was thrown into chaos after a High Court injection was made in the dead of night.
Two Chagossian women born on Diego Garcia – now home to a major UK/US airbase – are fighting the handover as part of their bid to be allowed to return home.
But after an emergency hearing this morning Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled that the handover of the islands, formally the British Indian Ocean Territory, can go ahead.
The judge ruled at 12.43pm: ‘I have concluded the stay should be lifted. And there should be no further interim relief.’Â
Sir James Eadie KC, for the Foreign Office, told the High Court that ‘damage has already flowed’ from the delays caused by the injunction being issued, and a decision was needed by 1pm to get the deal done today.
The handover agreement, which has been approved by US president Donald Trump, is highly controversial.
Mauritius, which is friendly towards China, will be handed billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money over decades for the lease to Diego Garcia.
Critics say the country’s friendly relations with Beijing mean the agreement will hinder the security of the base.
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)Â
The PM was due to attend a virtual ceremony alongside representatives from the Mauritian government this morning to sign off on the deal
Sir Keir was due to attend a virtual ceremony alongside representatives from the Mauritian government this morning to sign off on the deal.
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 and Bernadette Dugasse, Chagossian women who had previously launched legal action over the deal, at 2.25am.
The Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the base.
The Tories said that the injunction was a ‘humiliation’ for the Government.
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.Â
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.
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.
Mr Justice Goose issued the 2.25am injunction, ordering: ‘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.’
The 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.’
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.’Â
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.
