Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire at PMQs after Mauritius said the UK had agreed to change payment terms in its deal to hand it control of the Chagos Islands.It comes after Mauritian PM Navin Ramgoolam claimed the UK had now agreed to front-load the payments and change how they are calculated.The Conservative and Reform UK leaders both attacked Sir Keir over the cost of the deal, at a time when winter fuel payments to pensioners are being scaled back.But Sir Keir insisted it was required to secure the future of a UK-US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia, which the UK is due to keep on a 99-year lease.The plan to cede sovereignty of the archipelago, known officially as the British Indian Ocean Territory, was announced last October after a deal was reached with former Mauritian leader Pravind Jugnauth.But he was swept from power in a general election a month later, and Ramgoolam, his replacement, has criticised the initial draft.The agreement has also been mired in uncertainty after Donald Trump’s re-election as US president, given several US Republicans have argued it could deliver a potential security boost to China.Mauritius says it was ready to sign a deal last month – but the UK asked to press the pause button to allow Trump to examine it first.The UK government has never confirmed the estimated cost of payments under the deal, but press reports have put the figure at £9bn. Speaking in the Mauritian Parliament on Tuesday, Ramgoolam said payments, due to be made in dollars, would now be subject to a variable rather than fixed exchange rate, arguing the previous deal was not “inflation-proof”.”What’s the point of gettin …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnSir Keir Starmer has come under fire at PMQs after Mauritius said the UK had agreed to change payment terms in its deal to hand it control of the Chagos Islands.It comes after Mauritian PM Navin Ramgoolam claimed the UK had now agreed to front-load the payments and change how they are calculated.The Conservative and Reform UK leaders both attacked Sir Keir over the cost of the deal, at a time when winter fuel payments to pensioners are being scaled back.But Sir Keir insisted it was required to secure the future of a UK-US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia, which the UK is due to keep on a 99-year lease.The plan to cede sovereignty of the archipelago, known officially as the British Indian Ocean Territory, was announced last October after a deal was reached with former Mauritian leader Pravind Jugnauth.But he was swept from power in a general election a month later, and Ramgoolam, his replacement, has criticised the initial draft.The agreement has also been mired in uncertainty after Donald Trump’s re-election as US president, given several US Republicans have argued it could deliver a potential security boost to China.Mauritius says it was ready to sign a deal last month – but the UK asked to press the pause button to allow Trump to examine it first.The UK government has never confirmed the estimated cost of payments under the deal, but press reports have put the figure at £9bn. Speaking in the Mauritian Parliament on Tuesday, Ramgoolam said payments, due to be made in dollars, would now be subject to a variable rather than fixed exchange rate, arguing the previous deal was not “inflation-proof”.”What’s the point of gettin …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
