Labour ministers to create a ‘development fund’ for Mauritius as part of Keir Starmer’s £9billion deal to lease Chagos Islands_Nhy
The UK will create a ‘development fund’ for Mauritius as part of an expected £9billion deal to lease the Chagos Islands, it emerged last night.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s controversial agreement will include money for ‘strategic projects’ to improve the lives of Mauritians.
The 99-year deal will also include a ‘Chagossian Trust Fund’ which will be paid by the UK but managed by Mauritius, according to government officials.
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel accused Labour of ‘feathering another country’s nest’ and demanded it scrap the ‘dodgy deal’.
‘The humiliation that Keir Starmer and David Lammy are prepared to put this country through seems to be endless,’ she told the Mail.
‘Not only are they surrendering our sovereign territory, and our national security, but they want the British taxpayer to pay billions of pounds for the indignity of it – feathering another country’s nest whilst leaving farmers and freezing vulnerable pensioners in the lurch at home.
‘It has gone too far. Labour should just scrap this whole dodgy deal.’
Sir Keir has come under fire for agreeing to cede control of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius and to lease back the island of Diego Garcia – home to a joint US-UK airbase.
Sir Keir Starmer’s deal with Mauritius will include a ‘development fund’ to improve the lives of Mauritians
The 99-year deal will also include a ‘Chagossian Trust Fund’ which will be paid by the UK but managed by Mauritius, government officials have said
Yesterday it emerged that taxpayers will also fund development in Mauritius to ‘generate meaningful change’ for its residents.
A UK government spokesman told participants in a meeting about the deal last week: ‘I speak on behalf of the British government. There are three financial elements in the agreement.
‘First, an annual payment. Second, a Development Fund, funded by the UK and made available to Mauritius.
‘Third, a Chagossian Trust Fund, funded by the UK to be managed by Mauritius. Obviously, it is up to the Mauritian government to decide how it is going to spend this money, including to support the Chagossians.’
The meeting was reported in L’Express, a French language newspaper published in Mauritius.
The development came after senior politicians in Mauritius described the expected £9billion cost of the lease as ‘reparations’ and a ‘fair’ price.
Georges Pierre Lesjongard, leader of the opposition in the country, told the Telegraph that the money ‘forms part of the decolonisation process’.
However, the Foreign Office said: ‘We completely reject this misleading suggestion. The UK does not pay reparations.’
It also emerged yesterday that the former prime minister of Mauritius who masterminded the Chagos deal was interrogated in connection with a money laundering scandal.
Asked whether the deal should be paused as a result, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told GB News: ‘Negotiations about the Chagos Islands is about securing the long term future of an incredibly important UK-US military base. That’s what the deal is seeking to achieve.’
The previous statement on the deal with Mauritius and the UK on the Chagos Islands last October said that the payment ‘will include an indexed annual payment for the duration of the agreement and the establishment of a transformational infrastructure partnership, underpinned by UK grant funding, to deliver strategic projects generating meaningful change for ordinary Mauritians and boosting economic development across the country.’
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel (pictured) accused Labour of ‘feathering another country’s nest’ and demanded it scrap the ‘dodgy deal
The UK and Mauritius have refused to confirm the cost of the deal, although it is understood Britain has agreed to pay a large chunk of the money, which should amount to £90 million a year, up front.
Navin Ramgoolam, the new Mauritian prime minister, has called for the October agreement to be renegotiated and called for an ‘inflation-proof’ deal which could cost even more.
Last week, he announced that a fresh deal between the UK and Mauritius had been reached and was now awaiting Mr Trump’s seal of approval.
Washington has now asked to be party to the deal – something Mauritius has agreed to.
