Starmer: Chagos deal necessary to give legal certainty for Diego Garcia base

Sir Keir Starmer said Diego Garcia is ‘vital to our national security’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA) - (PA Wire)

National security will be put at risk unless the Chagos Islands are handed over to Mauritius in a deal set to cost the UK taxpayer billions, Sir Keir Starmer said.

The Government plans to cede sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory but pay to lease back the strategically important US-UK military base on Diego Garcia.