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Prime Minister Keir Starmer struck a deal with the then Mauritian government in October that his government said would secure the US-UK base on the island of Diego Garcia for 99 years.
The UK rejected a report that a deal struck with Mauritius to cede sovereignty of the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean to the African nation while retaining control of a key military base could cost Britain £800 million ($1 billion) or more per year.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer struck a deal with the then Mauritian government in October that his government said would secure the US-UK base on the island of Diego Garcia for 99 years.
New Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam has since sought to re-open the deal, with his administration saying the pact “would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect.”
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that even before the new administration came in, the Mauritians had asked for £800 million a year for as long as the UK wanted to retain the military base, as well as billions of pounds in reparations.
It said the UK’s previous Tory government had balked at those numbers, and that it was unclear what amount Starmer’s Labour administration had agreed to in October, but that it was now likely to rise.
But on Monday, Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, said the £800 million figure was “completely out of the ballpark” of anything discussed, while declining to say what the actual figure was.
“We’re working to finalize this agreement which is in both sides’ interest,” he told reporters in London.
