Frantic cross-Atlantic discussions have taken place over the past week between right-wing Tory and Reform politicians and Donald Trump’s team to try to ensure that Sir Keir Starmer did not complete a deal with the Chagos Islands before the US president-elect’s inauguration on Monday.
With Mr Trump seeking to block or even veto the deal to hand over the British Indian Ocean colony to Mauritius, the hope had been that Sir Keir would be prevented from landing an agreement before the new president is sworn into office.
