Starmer defies Trump by 'committing to Chagos deal' just days after Mauritius 'secured' more concessions from UK

Despite stalling the proposed deal until after Trump's inauguration, Starmer now looks set to push ahead with an agreement.

After the Prime Minister spoke to his Mauritian counterpart Navin Ramgoolam this afternoon, a Downing Street spokesman said: "The leaders began by reflecting on their first months in office and discussed the strong relationship between the UK and Mauritius, which they looked forward to expanding.

"The Prime Minister underlined the need for a deal to secure the military base on Diego Garcia that ensures strong protections, including from malign influence, and that will allow the base to continue to operate.

"Both leaders reiterated their commitment to a deal, and they looked forward to speaking again soon."

The conversation between Starmer and Ramgoolam comes just weeks after Mauritius hinted at securing more concessions from the UK over the Chagos Islands.

Speaking in Port Louis on January 14, Mauritian Attorney General Gavin Glover said: "We had a productive meeting in London and have not come empty-handed from London."

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It has even been suggested that Starmer could have agreed to cough up £90million a year to keep control of the strategically important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

Ramgoolam was understood to have demanded more cash after arguing that the draft deal "would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect".

Under the current terms of the deal, Britain would hand over control of the Chagos Islands but lease back Diego Garcia for 100 years at a cost of £9billion.

However, the statement from Downing Street also appeared to echo fears from Trump's inner circle about China's "malign influence" in the region.

Trump's new Secretary of State Marco Rubio used the same term following a call with Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

The ex-Florida Senator said then that the agreement was “concerning as it would provide an opportunity for communist China to gain valuable intelligence on our naval support facility in Mauritius”.

Rubio added: This poses a serious threat to our national security interests in the Indian Ocean and threatens critical US military posture in the region."

There was no direct reference to the Chagos Islands in the readout issued by the US and UK.

However, Washington's version did mention that China’s “malign” threat was discussed.