Labour's controversial Chagos deal is under further pressure as it could be challenged in court while President Donald Trump makes a last minute intervention.
Former government law officer Sir Michael Ellis said the deal had been so poorly handled that it has exposed ministers to the prospect of a judicial review that could see the decision overturned in court.
Ellis cited multiple reasons why the deal could be challenged in court, including the cost of the deal, the Government’s "imperialist" approach to the rights of the Chagossians as well as national security consequences
He told The Telegraph: "The Government is in danger of a court finding that their decisions over the Chagos Islands are not just bad, they are irrational."
The US is reportedly demanding a seat at the negotiating table
Reuters/Getty/PA
It comes as the US is demanding a seat at the negotiating table alongside the UK and Mauritius.
Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam said the White House had asked for a "representative in the meetings" to reach a final deal concerning the disputed British territory, saying: "We have agreed to that."
His statements came during an event celebrating Olivier Bancoult, the Chagossian activist who has for decades campaigned against the UK’s claim over the Chagos Islands.
During a speech, the Prime Minister said the "final document" was still awaiting approval by the White House, but stressed that his priority was not the financial package, "but the total sovereignty of Mauritius over the archipelago."
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Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam said the White House had asked for a "representative in the meetings"
GETTYMauritius has claimed that the remote cluster of islands was stolen from them when they gained independence from Britain in 1968.
Deputy prime minister Paul Bérenger said that by Britain giving Mauritius "total sovereignty" over the Chagos Islands “the English have definitively buried the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territories)."
The crowd of dozens of Chagossians and their descendants, roared in response.
Meanwhile, US officials have expressed concerns that ceding the islands to Mauritius, which shares growing ties with Beijing, could allow China to gain a further foothold in the Indo-Pacific.
Sir Keir Starmer had agreed to hand over the strategic territory to Mauritius late last yearREUTERSForeign Secretary David Lammy is expected to meet his US counterpart Marco Rubio, later this month as part of another attempt to convince the Trump administration to back the Chagos deal.
Prime Minister Ramgoolam will be flying to Ethiopia, for the 38th African Union Summit later today, where the Chagos deal will be discussed.
He told reporters on Wednesday night: "It is important that our African brothers and sisters understand this fight. This is the last colony that is fighting to no longer be a colony."
