Mauritius demands £800million a year and billions in reparations

By DAVID CHURCHILL, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL Published: 17:42 EST, 29 December 2024 | Updated: 21:40 EST, 29 December 2024 Mauritius has been demanding £800million a year and ‘billions of pounds in reparations’ as part of the beleaguered Chagos Islands talks, it emerged today. Sir Keir Starmer has been facing calls to abandon his surrender of the archipelago after Mauritius’ new government rejected a proposed deal and started demanding more money. Downing Street has refused to reveal how much it has offered to pay Mauritius for a 99-year lease of the crucial Anglo-American military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos atolls. But a source familiar with the talks told the Sunday Times: ‘They wanted crazy money. ‘They were talking £800million a year for as long as we wanted to keep the base there, plus billions of pounds in reparations.’ Sources close to David Lammy, the current Foreign Secretary, said UK negotiators have never ‘considered’ paying these amounts. But they did not deny that they have ever been demanded. And they refused to say how close to the demands that they have settled, simply saying that the proposed deal was ‘underpinned by a financial package...