The agreement would see Britain hand back the Indian Ocean archipelago to its former colony and pay to lease a key US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island.
But in a last minute pre-dawn court hearing, two Chagossian women won a temporary injunction from London’s High Court on the deal’s progress, in an embarrassing turn of events for Starmer whose government has faced huge criticism over the plan.
He said any further challenges would have to be heard by the Court of Appeal.
But the opposition Conservatives have slammed the government’s Chagos Island deal as “British sovereign territory being given away” in a “bad deal” for the UK.
As around 50 protesters gathered outside the court, the two women’s lawyer, Philip Rule, alleged the government was acting “unlawfully” and argued there was “significant risk” that Thursday could be last opportunity for the court had to hear the case.
The base on Diego Garcia is leased to the United States and has become one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific region, including being used as a hub for long-range bombers and ships during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security,“ a government spokesperson told AFP ahead of the ruling.
“You’re seeing British sovereign territory being given away to an ally of China, and billions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money being spent for the privilege,“ said senior Tory politician Robert Jenrick.
Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand the archipelago to Mauritius after decades of legal battles.
The UK government has not said how much the lease will cost, but has not denied reports that it would be £90 million ($111 million) a year.
Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam has said his country would pursue its fight for full sovereignty over the islands if Washington refused to support the return.
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