UK can sign Chagos Islands deal after last-minute legal challenge fails
The deal has been criticised by some political figures, with the Conservatives, Reform's Nigel Farage and at one point US President Donald Trump all voicing opposition, ITV News' Correspondent John Ray reports
The government can conclude its negotiations on the Chagos Islands deal, after an eleventh-hour legal challenge from campaigners as dismissed by a High Court judge.
The deal, which would see Britain give up sovereignty of the island territory to Mauritius and lease back a crucial military base there, was due to be signed on Thursday morning but was temporarily blocked by an injunction hours before.
Discharging the injunction at the High Court, Mr Justice Chamberlain said: "The public interest and the interests of the United Kingdom would be substantially prejudiced by the grant or continuance of interim relief, and these matters provide a strong public interest reason against the continuance of interim relief."
The legal challenge had been brought against the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office by two British women born on the Chagos Islands.
Bertrice Pompe, one of two women, said it was "a very, very sad day" but "we are not giving up".
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is now expected to complete sign off of the deal on Thursday, which will see the British-controlled Chagos Islands handed over to Mauritius.
Welcoming the High Court ruling, a government spokesperson said the agreement is "vital to protect the British people and our national security."
The government had argued that it had to give up sovereignty over the islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, due to international legal rulings in favour of Mauritius.
The deal has been criticised by some political figures, with the Conservatives, Reform's Nigel Farage and at one point US President Donald Trump all voicing opposition.
The latter signalled a change in tone and some support for the deal when Starmer visited the White House in February earlier this year.
Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, is home to a joint UK-US military base, used to project Western influence in the Indian Ocean.
Critics of proposals to hand over the islands to Mauritius fear the move will benefit China, which has a growing reach in the region.
It had been reported that the terms of the deal were likely to include a lengthy extension to the lease of this military base.
The Conservatives began negotiations with Mauritius when they were in power, but have been critical of Labour's handling of the deal.
Speaking in the House of Commons just this week, Defence Secretary John Healey insisted the base on Diego Garcia was 'essential to our security', and the UK's security relationship with the US.
'We've had to act, as the previous government started to do, to deal with that jeopardy, we're completing those arrangements and we'll report to the House when we can,' he added.
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