DONALD Trump has been given a veto on the UK’s plan to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, the Foreign Secretary confirmed yesterday.
David Lammy revealed the US President can stop any agreement on the eve of Sir Keir Starmer holding talks in the White House.
The proposed agreement would see the UK pay Mauritius £9billion to take the Indian Ocean islands in exchange for a 99-year lease to continue using the joint UK-US Diego Garcia military base there.
It came as Sir Keir Starmer faced criticism from MPs for refusing to say if cash from the UK’s defence spending rise will go on Chagos costs.
David Lammy told ITV’s Peston: “If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward.”
He added that the UK and America have shared military and intelligence interest suggesting the US have to give the green light otherwise any agreement falls down.
Downing Street have declined to say whether the subject will come up during their talks in the White House.
The PM was put under pressure twice by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to ensure none of the defence uplift includes payments for the Chagos pact.
Ms Badenoch said: “We need to make sure we’re supporting a plan that is clear and transparent.”
Sir Keir told a heated House of Commons that the money was being used for “our capability on defence and security in Europe” and put the UK in the best position “to rise to a generational challenge”.
The PM also refused to give a clear answer to Tory MP Kieran Mullan.
The Tories later accused Downing Street of a “cover-up” over where the money for surrendering the Chagos Islands was coming from.
Defence Secretary John Healey also refused to say whether the money could be diverted there.
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