Lord Hermer resurrects Chagos Islands 'surrender' deal and tells MPs the Government is 'determined' to see it signed

By DAVID BARRETT, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 17:07, 23 June 2026 | Updated: 17:09, 23 June 2026 Labour is ‘determined’ to complete the controversial hand-over of control of the Chagos Islands, Attorney General Lord Hermer has insisted. The deal was paused indefinitely in April after US President Donald Trump withdrew his support, labelling it an ‘act of total weakness’. But Lord Hermer has resurrected the treaty – which critics have dubbed a ‘surrender deal’ and an ‘absolute betrayal’ - telling MPs he hoped it would be signed ‘in the coming weeks and months’. Despite his remarks it remains unclear, however, whether Sir Keir Starmer’s successor as Labour leader and prime minister would continue to pursue the deal. The paused proposals would see the UK cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius and lease back the joint US-UK Diego Garcia air base on the archipelago's largest island for 99 years to the tune of around £35billion. They prompted widespread concerns that it risked allowing China to establish a presence on the archipelago. Lord Hermer told the Commons’ justice select committee: ‘The Chagos treaty and agreement is overwhelmingly in our national interest. ‘The negotiations that we picked up from the last Conservative government, which were very developed negotiations, were started and we continued with them because of our national security analysis as to the importance of the base of Diego Garcia. Questioned by MPs about Labour's proposed deal to cede control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, Lord Hermer said the government 'remain determined to try and get it done'  ‘That is what it was about, that is what it has remained about. ‘I very much hope that in the coming weeks and months we're able to sign the treaty - again because it's in the national interest of this country to do so, because of our national security concerns and the importance of the base in that part of the world. ‘As you know, although the United States started off supporting under President Trump the deal, there has been a change of position. ‘We remain determined to try and get it done.’ He added: ‘Absent a treaty being signed, there is no international law agreement that reflects in international law the terms of the treaty at the status as a treaty.’ The Chagos Islands lie halfway between Africa and Indonesia in the Indian Ocean, with a strategically-important joint UK-US air base located on the largest island in the archipeligo, Diego Garcia The plan was shelved after Mr Trump dubbed it ‘very woke’ and an ‘act of great stupidity’. He added that the UK was ‘giving away’ the site of a ‘vital’ air base ‘for no reason whatsoever’. Defence chiefs also warned it would make the air base 'inherently less secure'. The treaty – which must be ratified by both Houses of Parliament - did not appear in last month’s King’s Speech which set out the Government’s legislative programme, nor was it among measures carried over from the previous parliamentary session. Lord Hermer, a long-standing friend of fellow human rights barrister Sir Keir, faced accusations of a conflict of interest over the Government’s bid to cede the islands. Before entering politics the KC represented in the UK High Court a group of Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers who had been stranded on the islands. However, months later when Labour came to power and Lord Hermer was appointed the government’s most senior law officer ministers agreed a ‘one off’ deal allowing his 61 former clients to come to Britain as asylum seekers. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.