THE GOVERNMENT has said there is “no pause” in its Chagos Islands deal after a minister told MPs the UK was “pausing” the legislative process while holding discussions with the United States.
A government source told BBC, “there is no pause, we have never set a deadline and timings will be announced in the usual way”.
Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer told the House of Commons the UK was “pausing” as talks continued with the US. He said: “There was support from the US administration for this treaty, which has not changed.
“There clearly has been a statement from the president of the United States more recently, which is very significant.
“And as I told the house [of Commons] we are now discussing those concerns with the United States directly.
“We will bring that back to Parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”
The agreement would transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, with the UK paying £101m a year for 99 years to lease back the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.
Mauritius’s Attorney General Gavin Glover, according to the BBC, said: “There has been no discussion on the legislative process for the last three weeks.
“I note that it says a pause from the legislative process and not a backing off.”
Opposition figures criticised the deal. Reform UK MP Nigel Farage said there was “no basis, historically, culturally, in any way, for Mauritius to have a claim on those islands” and urged ministers to “pause all of this”.
Shadow foreign minister Wendy Morton said: “This is not a legal necessity. It’s a political choice made by a floundering prime minister and it’s British taxpayers who are left to pay the price.”
(With inputs from agencies)
