According to people familiar with the matter, the UK will sign a controversial agreement on Thursday to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The deal is expected to see the UK agree to a multi-billion-pound payment to retain Diego Garcia’s U.S. military base while transferring sovereignty to the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, which has eagerly awaited Mauritius due to the strategic importance of the site.
The opposition Conservative Party has received severe criticism of the long-term plan arrangements for the British Indian Ocean territory, which accused British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of abandoning a significant strategic asset and retaining taxpayers with substantial payments to retain access.
But under President Donald Trump, U.S. criticism of the arrangement has been downplayed. The United States and the United Kingdom will retain access to the base under a 99-year lease.
British shadow foreign minister Priti Patel said on Wednesday that the deal would be a "betrayal of labor on our national interests, conveniently timed on the last day before parliament recession".
After the conclusion that Britain established a relationship with Brussels with Brussels earlier this week, “It seems that Starmer is now starting to further humiliate the country, handing over our own sovereign territory to Mauritius and then demanding the British public to pay billions of dollars in responsibility.”
Labor has previously said the deal will not be completed until MPs approve it.
Party officials argued that the deal was signed under the former Conservative government and that an agreement must be reached on the island's sovereignty under international law.
The British government granted the U.S. government a veto on the draft agreement, given its security impact on the United Kingdom’s United Military Base on Diego Garcia.
But when Trump hosted Starmer at the White House in February, he showed that he would support the deal negotiated by Britain with Mauritius, which was considered a major victory for the British Prime Minister.
The president’s support for the deal is to get relief from Britain, as some Trump administration officials, including former national security adviser Mike Waltz, raised concerns about the arrangement before joining the White House.
"President Trump's privilege is to get long-term U.S. action from Diego Garcia," a White House official said Wednesday. "President Trump discussed this with Prime Minister Pm Starmer during his visit to the White House. The UK is reaching a deal."