Sir Keir Starmer has been left bracing for a “fight” against his proposed Chagos deal just moments after Donald Trump appeared to throw his weight behind the “sell-out” deal.
The Prime Minister, who left the Oval Office with plenty to smile about last night, was left buoyed by Trump’s comments on the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Trump hinted at Mauritius conceding to a 140-year lease for the strategically significant Diego Garcia military base.
Speaking from the Oval Office, the 47th President said: “We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon, and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well.”
However, those concerned with the current arrangements almost immediately vowed to step up efforts to prevent a handover.
Tory peer Lord Ross Kempsell said: “The fight to maintain UK sovereignty over Chagos is not over – not least as Chagossians themselves have been completely erased from Starmer’s sellout.
“Many around the President remain deeply concerned about this deal – including some present in the Oval Office. Now we go harder.”
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe added: “The Chagos Islands deal is disgustingly rotten to the core. It does NOT serve the British taxpayer. It’s about human rights lawyers abusing their power to indulge their fantasies.
“It’s a betrayal. I hope that Donald Trump reconsiders his support for it. On this, he is wrong.”
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Nigel Farage to spark ‘political thunderbolt’ as bombshell poll hands Reform nearly 200 seats
A seat projection map by Electoral Calculus would place Reform UK on 192 seatsGB News/Electoral Calculus
Reform UK will, for the first time, win both the most votes and the most seats if a general election were to be held tomorrow, a new opinion poll has shown.
In a poll by Electoral Calculus, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has polled at 25.8 per cent, with Labour behind on 24.7 per cent and Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative party in third on 21.9 per cent.
The new opinion poll would place Reform UK on 192 seats, with Labour on 178 seats down from 404, with the Conservative party trailing on 142 seats and no longer the official opposition.
Responding to the poll, a Reform UK spokesman said: “This polling confirms what we all know, Reform has all the momentum in British politics.
Donald Trump confirms US-UK trade deal to come ‘very quickly’ in major boost to Brexit Britain
Donald Trump has promised that Britain will be in line for a “trade agreement” in a joint press conference with Sir Keir Starmer this evening.
Just hours after slapping down the EU and hailing Brexit as the “right thing at the right time”, the tariff-happy President said a deal was in line to come “very quickly”.
“We’re going to have a great trade agreement,” Trump said. “We’re going to end up with a very good trade agreement for both countries, and we’re working on that as we speak.”
Starmer, a few minutes later, promised that he and Trump “will work on a new economic deal with advanced technology at its core”.
Earlier, though Trump warned that Britain was not out of the woods on tariffs just yet, he again threatened the Brussels bloc with trade duties.
“The EU was very tough on us from the standpoint of trade,” Trump said, and added that UK-US relations are in a “warm spot”.
“We’re talking about a very different place. A place where I have investments,” the President said.