Taxpayers may have to give up more cash as Mauritius has demanded more money for the Chagos Islands in a desperate attempt to gain a better deal from the UK.
Talks have reached their final stages after US President Donald Trump signed off on Britain giving away the islands.
Parliament could see a final deal presented within weeks.
Sources involved in the discussions revealed that Mauritius has requested higher lease payments for the Diego Garcia military base, along with additional development funding on top of the £9billion previously agreed upon.
The UK has stated it will not increase the overall spending on the deal beyond the terms agreed in October
PA/GETTYThere is also a continuing disagreement over how much of the lease payment will be made upfront.
The UK has stated it will not increase the overall spending on the deal beyond the terms agreed in October, but insiders have suggested that the payment schedule could be adjusted to "front-load" more funds to Mauritius sooner.
British negotiators are understood to have proposed three new options in recent weeks to accelerate the payments, all of which would involve paying a larger portion of the 99 years' rent for Diego Garcia in advance.
However, sources have said Mauritius has rejected two of the options and is waiting for a better deal and more money overall.
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A Mauritian insider source said: “We won’t sign the deal without getting clarity on the amount of money front-loaded.
“We were provided three options for the payment of the financial package. We didn’t even consider the first two options after consulting our legal experts. We are discussing the third option.”
It is not yet known what the third option being negotiated includes.
The payment schedule has emerged as the primary point of contention between the two nations since the UK and the previous Mauritian government reached a draft deal last year.
Despite concerns that the US President would block the deal, he eventually signed off on it after Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington earlier this year
GETTYAfter taking office, Navin Ramgoolam, the new prime minister of Mauritius, reopened negotiations with the aim of accelerating the payments due to the significant public debt inherited from his predecessor.
The UK has already agreed to advance some payments, with plans to provide Mauritius a lump sum shortly after the deal is finalized.
Whitehall insiders have said the latest dispute started when Mauritius demanded more money overall, which crossed a red line for Britain.
Some UK officials believe the island country is taking advantage of Britain’s preference to sign a deal as soon as possible and eliminate “legal risk” to the operations on Diego Garcia.
Despite concerns that the US President would block the deal, he eventually signed off on it after Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington earlier this year.
According to The Telegraph, Jonathan Powell, the No 10 national security adviser, received final approval from his US counterpart, Michael Waltz.
The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office has not disclosed the total cost of the deal to British taxpayers, but reports suggest it is around £9bn.
Claims that the true cost could be closer to £18bn have been dismissed by a minister as "inaccurate."
The deal will be presented to Parliament, revealing, for the first time, the cost of relinquishing control over the Chagos Islands
GETTY
The deal will be presented to Parliament, revealing, for the first time, the cost of relinquishing control over the Chagos Islands.
These islands have been a British Overseas Territory since Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1967.
Mauritius has long maintained that the islands were taken by Britain and has garnered some international court support for its sovereignty claims.
Conservatives have continuously said the deal should be scrapped, with Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel describing it as “one of the worst foreign policy failures in modern British history”.
She said: “Once again, the colossal scale of Keir Starmer and David Lammy’s diplomatic failure is on stark display.
“From the get go we have been warning that surrendering sovereign British territory, and asking taxpayers to fork over their hard earned cash for the indignity of it, is a total disaster – and yet Labour have pushed ahead."
Calling Labour a “weak and feeble” government who can not stand up for Britain, she added that there is “no surprise they [Mauritius] are now coming back for more”.
