Britain has been asked to pay up billions of pounds of taxpayers' cash as part of the Chagos Islands surrender, it has emerged.
In October, Sir Keir Starmer and Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth announced that the two countries had agreed to hand over the British Overseas Territory, while the UK and US would lease a key military base back for 99 years.
But Jugnauth has since been replaced, and new PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam wants "crazy money" for the archipelago, sources have said.
After calling US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Ramgoolam told MPs that he had tabled a "counter proposal" - the value of which is said to soar into the 10-figure mark.
A source familiar with the sovereignty talks said: "They were talking £800million a year for as long as we wanted to keep the base there, plus billions of pounds in reparations."
The Tories - who started the talks - balked at these sums, and never signed off on a deal.
And Labour are remaining tight-lipped on how much the UK has agreed to pay, or how much of the bill the US will shoulder.
But after Mauritius's protests, the fee is now likely to rise further - though the Foreign Office has said "an amount this high has not been considered at any point in negotiations between the UK and Mauritius", the Mail reported.
The Times cites seven unnamed "ministers, aides, diplomats and lawyers involved in the case" in a damning report into the Chagos surrender which implies officials were "uncomfortable" with the international community's view on UK sovereignty over the islands.
MORE ON CHAGOS:
In 2019, the International Court of Justice had ruled against British sovereignty over the territory - putting successive British Prime Ministers at the mercy of the international community.
At one point in her brief tenure in No10, Liz Truss "got it in the neck from African countries and South American countries", one source said.
The countries had told Truss: "You want us to help you remove Russia from its illegal invasion of Ukraine while you're illegally occupying a part of Africa in violation of an International Court of Justice decision," - prompting her to start talks with Mauritius.
After negotiations trundled on for more than a year, Rishi Sunak's Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron eventually halted the deal after being left "deeply uncomfortable with what we were doing", according to one senior diplomat.
But Mauritius kept pushing for the islands - and after Starmer swept to power in July, his Government was "presented with this disastrous thing which had to be resolved straight away", one Whitehall official said.
With just three weeks until Donald Trump is inaugurated as President, a deal is still not in place.
Nigel Farage has said Trump will veto the surrender - but one official warned: "Trump has said nothing about this... Trump has described [Indian PM Narendra] Modi as his best friend in the whole world - and Modi wants this deal."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "An amount this high has not been considered at any point in negotiations between the UK and Mauritius."
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In October, Sir Keir Starmer and Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth announced that the two countries had agreed to hand over the British Overseas Territory, while the UK and US would lease a key military base back for 99 years.
But Jugnauth has since been replaced, and new PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam wants "crazy money" for the archipelago, sources have said.
After calling US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Ramgoolam told MPs that he had tabled a "counter proposal" - the value of which is said to soar into the 10-figure mark.
A source familiar with the sovereignty talks said: "They were talking £800million a year for as long as we wanted to keep the base there, plus billions of pounds in reparations."
The Tories - who started the talks - balked at these sums, and never signed off on a deal.
And Labour are remaining tight-lipped on how much the UK has agreed to pay, or how much of the bill the US will shoulder.
But after Mauritius's protests, the fee is now likely to rise further - though the Foreign Office has said "an amount this high has not been considered at any point in negotiations between the UK and Mauritius", the Mail reported.
The Times cites seven unnamed "ministers, aides, diplomats and lawyers involved in the case" in a damning report into the Chagos surrender which implies officials were "uncomfortable" with the international community's view on UK sovereignty over the islands.
MORE ON CHAGOS:
- Starmer faces fresh calls to abandon Chagos deal after Mauritius rejects deal
- Chagos Islands under threat AGAIN as now Maldives stakes claim to strategic territory
- Mauritius issues major ultimatum over Chagos deal as UK accused of financial ‘quibbling’
In 2019, the International Court of Justice had ruled against British sovereignty over the territory - putting successive British Prime Ministers at the mercy of the international community.
At one point in her brief tenure in No10, Liz Truss "got it in the neck from African countries and South American countries", one source said.
The countries had told Truss: "You want us to help you remove Russia from its illegal invasion of Ukraine while you're illegally occupying a part of Africa in violation of an International Court of Justice decision," - prompting her to start talks with Mauritius.
After negotiations trundled on for more than a year, Rishi Sunak's Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron eventually halted the deal after being left "deeply uncomfortable with what we were doing", according to one senior diplomat.
But Mauritius kept pushing for the islands - and after Starmer swept to power in July, his Government was "presented with this disastrous thing which had to be resolved straight away", one Whitehall official said.
With just three weeks until Donald Trump is inaugurated as President, a deal is still not in place.
Nigel Farage has said Trump will veto the surrender - but one official warned: "Trump has said nothing about this... Trump has described [Indian PM Narendra] Modi as his best friend in the whole world - and Modi wants this deal."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "An amount this high has not been considered at any point in negotiations between the UK and Mauritius."
Find Out More...