Sir Keir's Chagos deal on the ropes, as Govt's negotiating partner in Mauritius arrested on corruption and money-laundering charges

Questions now being asked over Government's £18bn giveaway of taxpayers' money

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

A 2-part explainer on Chagos, sovereignty, and just who the Government was negotiating with

The Government's growing Chagos crisis took a dramatic new turn at the weekend. Facts4EU.Org brings readers a fascinating two-parter with all the latest developments.

On Saturday Mauritian former PM Pravind Jugnauth had his home searched for three hours by officers acting for the country’s Financial Crimes Commission. Police detained the 63-year-old along with his wife Kobita Jugnauth and questioned them for several hours, according to Agence France Presse.

Kobita Jugnauth was later released and Pravind Jugnauth was placed under formal arrest in the early hours of Sunday in relation to alleged corruption and money-laundering. This followed the earlier arrest of an associate of the former PM, in whose home police found suitcases stuffed with bundles of cash and luxury watches. Mr Jugnauth has denied all charges.

This new scandal just adds to the reputational woes of the new Government

This scandal is another in a seemingly continuous stream of bad press stories affecting the reputation and dwindling popularity of the British PM. Mr Jugnauth is the man with whom Sir Keir and David Lammy negotiated the first Chagos sovereignty surrender agreement late last year, involving the payment of £9bn originally and now £18bn of British taxpayers' money.

Where are the islands of Mauritius and where are the Chagos Islands it claims?

The Chagos are a group of islands in the Indian Ocean owned by the United Kingdom. Situated 1300 miles from Mauritius, the islands were settled from East Africa and were never governed by Mauritius throughout history. Between 1814 and 1965, the Chagos Archipelago was administered by the United Kingdom as a dependency of its British colony 1300 miles away.

© Google Maps - click to enlarge

The new scandal unfolding over Sir Keir at the weekend

As we outlined above, on Saturday (15 Feb 2025) the former Mauritian PM with whom Sir Keir and David Lammy both met - and with whom the original Chagos deal was negotiated - found himself being investigated for possible corruption and money-laundering charges. We now know that on Sunday Mr Jugnauth was formally arrested. He was later given bail by a judge and further proceedings are now awaited. Mr Jugnauth denies all charges. In response to this news, the Rt Hon Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, said:

Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel called on Keir Starmer to halt the Chagos deal “in its tracks”

The attitude of the UK government

Negotiations with the Mauritius government began under the Conservatives. When David Cameron became Foreign Secretary he ordered a halt, seeing no need to pursue this. Work then recommenced with the new government of Sir Keir Starmer under the instructions of David Lammy, the Labour Foreign Secretary.

The attitude of the USA

The US Administration under President Biden went along with a UK-Mauritius negotiation to give the Chagos Islands away and to lease back the Diego Garcia military base, accepting the argument of its lawyers.

Both President Trump and Secretary Rubio are against the plan. Quite understandably they do not want the islands given to a government which is a friend of China, and do not want any settlement on the smaller islands, which are part of the archipelago and which could be used for eavesdropping on the base.

New scares and arguments

At a loss to persuade the British people to buy this Agreement, the Government now says that if the UK doesn’t surrender the Chagos Islands, the UN could stop the Diego Garcia base from using the electro-mechanical spectrum. However, sovereign owners of territory can always use the spectrum around them and the UN does not have naval vessels to send to try to jam it.

The Government also says it could fall foul of UN Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The UK’s signature on that agreement expressly exempted defence activity, so once again this is a false argument.

A major concern is defence and how up to £18 billion might be used to pay Mauritius in some form of reparations agreement, rather than being spent on the UK's defence or on the country’s other priorities.

A final word from Sir John Redwood, asking if the Attorney General must now go

"The UK government’s international lawyers led by Attorney General Lord Hermer are undermining US and UK security by giving away the freehold of a crucial base, important to the defence of Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. Their grasp of the law overlooks the fact that neither the ICJ nor the UN General Assembly have the power to force the UK to give up Chagos.

"At a time when we need to spend more on useful defence, spending £9bn to £18bn to lease-back something we own is madness. Maybe this is sufficiently foolish to speed the removal of the Attorney General, who is subject to many criticisms from his own Labour colleagues. As one of them said, instead of the rule of law he wants the rule of lawyers. They happen to be lawyers who usually think the UK is in the wrong. President Trump would appreciate an ally who did not destabilise one of their major bases."

[ Sources: Mauritian National Assembly | ICJ | Hansard UK | Hansard Mauritius | No.10 | No.11 | AFP | Mauritius Times ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 17 Feb 2025

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