The UK government has asserted that the controversial plan to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius remains on track, after a minister caused confusion by telling MPs that the deal had been “paused”.
A Foreign Office minister and former diplomat, Hamish Falconer, speaking on Wednesday, 25 February, said that the deal had come under increasing pressure from opposition parties in the UK and from U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a bombshell intervention last month, the U.S. president said that Keir Starmer was “making a big mistake” by handing sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius. The intended return would be in exchange for the UK and the United States maintaining the use of their airbase on one of the islands, Diego Garcia.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, speaking in response to an urgent question in the Commons, said:
“We have a process going through Parliament in relation to the treaty. We intend to return it to Parliament at the appropriate time.
We are currently pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”
The government scrambled to contain the confusion created by Falconer’s comments, which were quickly reported by the BBC. Sources in the Foreign Office later said that he had “misspoken”.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said that there is no pause, adding that no deadline has ever been set and that timings would be announced in the usual manner.
The intervention was immediately seized upon by the Conservative shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, who is currently visiting the U.S. and meeting political figures there about the deal. She described the situation as “an appalling act of betrayal”.
Patel said:
“I’m in Washington lobbying senior administration figures on this issue. I’m pleased that the UK government has been forced to pause the legislation.
However, ministers may need to go further. It may be time for Keir Starmer to face reality and kill this shameful surrender once and for all before it does any more damage.”
