UK government denies Chagos Islands deal is paused, after minister said it was

The government has said there is "no pause" in its Chagos Islands deal despite a minister earlier telling MPs that the UK was "pausing" the process of passing the legislation to transfer control of the territory to Mauritius.

A government source said "there is no pause, we have never set a deadline and timings will be announced in the usual way".

Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer was answering questions from MPs when he said the UK was "pausing" the process while "discussions" happened with the United States.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the deal last week, despite earlier expressing support for the treaty.

The Chagos Islands - officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory - are located in the Indian Ocean and Britain has controlled them since the early 19th century.

The deal would see the UK cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius, and pay an average cost of £101m a year to lease back a joint UK-US military base on the largest island.

The UK is in the process of passing legislation to ratify the deal and on Wednesday, Falconer faced questions about that in the House of Commons.

"There was support from the US administration for this treaty, which has not changed," Falconer said.

"There clearly has been a statement from the president of the United States more recently, which is very significant.

"And as I told the house [of Commons] we are now discussing those concerns with the United States directly. We have a process going through Parliament in relation to the treaty.

"We will bring that back to Parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts."

In earlier comments in the Commons, Falconer said the deal was going "through Parliament in the normal way".

"We are pausing in discussions with the United States," Falconer said. "And those discussions continue."

Earlier, the prime minister's spokesperson told reporters the UK's position had not changed and the focus was on "discussions with the US on next steps".

Mauritius's Attorney General Gavin Glover said he was not surprised by the minister's comments.

"There has been no discussion on the legislative process for the last three weeks," Glover.

"I note that it says a pause from the legislative process and not a backing off.

"I am in close contact with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office."

The deal has been thrown into doubt by President Trump, who last week posted on his Truth Social platform to urge Sir Keir to not "give away Diego Garcia", home to the UK-US military base.

Trump said "this land should not be taken away from the UK" and called the deal "a blight on our great ally".

The comments came despite the US Department of State giving its official backing to the UK government's plan a day earlier.

The US State Department said it had nothing to add, following Falconer's comments in the Commons.

The Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill is designed to enshrine the Chagos Islands agreement into UK law.

It is in the final stages of its passage through Parliament and is currently in the House of Lords.

A debate on the bill was pulled in January after the Conservatives - who have long opposed the deal - tabled an amendment calling for a pause "in light of the changing geopolitical circumstances".

The bill has not been on the order paper in the Lords since then and no date has been set for the next stage.

Last week, Politico reported that the legislation would be delayed but Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones said it would return to the Lords "as soon as parliamentary time allows".

Britain has controlled the Chagos Islands since 1814 and evicted its inhabitants in the 1960s to make way for the military base on Diego Garcia.

The islands became formally established as an overseas territory in 1965, after the British government paid Mauritius a £3m grant to retain the archipelago.

Last year, the UK government agreed to hand over control of the islands to Mauritius, arguing the future of the military base had been threatened by recent international court decisions.

Under the deal, the UK has agreed to pay £101m annually for 99 years to keep control of the UK-US military base.

Many Chagossians see the deal as a betrayal and want to see the UK retain sovereignty over the islands so they can one day return to their homeland.

The Conservatives and Reform UK are staunchly opposed to the deal as well.

MPs from those parties have been travelling to Washington to lobby American politicians, in a campaign aimed building opposition to the agreement in the US.

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Reform UK MP Nigel Farage said there was "no basis, historically, culturally, in any way, for Mauritius to have a claim on those islands".

He said the region could "finish up with a turf war going on between India and China in the region".

Farage claimed the Maldives were about to issue a counter-claim to the International Court of Justice over the Chagos Islands in "just a few days".

"If anybody has the right to the sovereignty of those islands, it is the Maldives and not Mauritius," Farage said. "And I would urge you to pause all of this."

Shadow foreign minister Wendy Morton said the Chagos deal would leave Britain "weaker, poorer and less safe".

"This is not a legal necessity," Morton said. "It's a political choice made by a floundering prime minister and it's British taxpayers who are left to pay the price."