Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has accused Donald Trump of a dramatic flip-flop over his support for Labour's controversial £30 billion give-away of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. In comments risking provocation from the White House, Sir Keir suggested that President Trump's recent criticism of the deal is out of step with US intelligence officials and contradicts his own previous backing.

The deal involves the UK ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while crucially retaining an initial 99-year lease of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital joint US-UK military base. This agreement, formally approved by Sir Keir and his Mauritian counterpart last May, was deemed necessary by No 10 to secure the future of the Diego Garcia base following legal rulings undermining the UK's claim to the territory.

The cost of leasing back the base is officially projected to be £3.4 billion, though other estimates have suggested figures up to £35 billion.

President Trump last week branded the deal an 'act of great stupidity,' asserting that Britain was giving away an extremely important strategic asset for no reason whatsoever, thereby demonstrating weakness that China and Russia would exploit. His dramatic intervention blindsided Downing Street, which had considered the deal finalised months prior. Trump's apparent U-turn has been linked to his broader 'America First' agenda and even his efforts to acquire the Arctic territory of Greenland, suggesting the Chagos decision played into his rationale for seeking other territories.

However, Sir Keir Starmer vehemently defended the deal, stating that British officials have held frantic talks with their US counterparts to salvage it. He underlined that when the Trump administration came into office, there was a three-month pause for US agencies to consider the Chagos deal in detail, particularly concerning security and intelligence implications.

Following this review, US intelligence and security agencies, along with key figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, explicitly conveyed their support for the arrangement. Sir Keir reaffirmed that he has discussed Chagos with Donald Trump multiple times and that the US administration had been 'very clear in the pronouncements about the fact that they supported the deal.'

The Conservatives have seized on Trump's recent opposition, urging ministers to abandon the deal. Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel warned that ceding sovereignty to Mauritius could violate a 60-year-old treaty with the US and would make it impossible for either the UK or the US to station nuclear missiles on Diego Garcia, as Mauritius is a signatory to a non-proliferation treaty. Dame Priti called for the 'atrocious surrender treaty' to be torn up, prioritising Britain's interests, defence, and security.

Despite the heightened tensions, Downing Street sources maintain that the agreement is a 'done deal' and will not be scuppered by the US. They reported that neither the US Department of State nor US intelligence agencies have indicated any change of mind, despite President Trump's fiery rhetoric.

The next stage of the bill connected to the handover of Chagos has been delayed in the House of Lords, which Downing Street attributes to ongoing discussions with the US, emphasising their continuous collaboration with Washington throughout the treaty's development.