Starmer confirms deal to hand over Chagos Islands to Mauritius
Sir Keir Starmer has formally signed an agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after a scramble to prevent a further legal challenge following a last-minute injunction to halt the move failed on Thursday morning.
The deal will see the UK give up sovereignty of the island territory to Mauritius with Sir Keir claiming the UK will pay £101m per year for 99 years to lease the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia back from the government, amounting to a total of £10bn over the course of a century.
However, confusion remains over how much the deal will really cost. While the government has insisted the “net value” of the deal will be £3.4bn, because of the impact of inflation, in cash terms, some estimates have put it at as much as £30bn over 99 years, assuming two per cent inflation.
Credit to : The Independent
