Labour MPs have been accused of “covering up” the details of Sir Keir Starmer’s Chagos deal after a motion led by Kemi Badenoch was roundly defeated in the House of Commons.
Badenoch’s motion called for a choronology of negotiations between the UK and Mauritius.
It also demanded details on departmental budgets to cover the costs of the arrangement and explain the under-fire Attorney General Lord Hermer’s role in negotiations.
Labour MPs were joined by Greens and independents in keeping some of the Chagos details under wraps, taking the overall figure to 298.
Sir Keir Starmer addressing MPs in the House of Commons
PA
Only 147 MPs, from the Tories, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, voted in favour of Badenoch’s motion.
The vote came after Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick yesterday released a seven-minute takedown video against the Chagos deal, labelling the proposed accord a “betrayal of Britain”.
However, Starmer could face a challenge to his Chagos “surrender deal” from Donald Trump.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy admitted last night that the US President holds a final veto on the Indian Ocean archipelago.
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Chagos IslandsFlickr/PASpeaking ahead of Starmer’s crunch meeting with the US President in the White House, Lammy told ITV: “If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward and the reason for that is because we have a shared military and intelligence interest with the United States and of course they’ve got to be happy with the deal or there is no deal.”
The Prime Minister is expected to “confront” the 47th President over his response to the war in Ukraine, with Starmer this week announcing a defence spending hike to curb Russia’s influence.
However, critics of his Chagos deal claim that handing over the Indian Ocean archipelago to Beijing-backed Mauritius could provide China with a significant outpost.
Concerns about Starmer’s Chagos deal soared yesterday after No10 refused to rule out defence spending increasing to cover the costs.
Donald TrumpREUTERSUnder the proposed agreement, the UK would lease back Diego Garcia for 99 years at a reported annual cost of around £90million.
Starmer announced defence spending would increase to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, eventually hitting three per cent by the next Parliament.
The increase sparked fury among certain corners of the Labour Party, with foreign aid being slashed to cover the cost.
Experts have contested the raw increase in defence spending.
The Prime Minister estimated it will release an extra £13.4billion annually but independent critics cut the figure down to just £6billion.