Defence Secretary declines to say whether spending increase includes Chagos cash
A figure for the value of the deal has not been disclosed, but it has been reported at a cost of £90 million per year.
Defence Secretary John Healey has declined to say whether the increase in defence spending includes funding being used for the Chagos Islands deal.
The UK is in talks with Mauritius about handing over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory, but leasing back the strategically important Diego Garcia military base which is used by the US.
A figure for the value of the deal has not been disclosed, but it has been reported at a cost of £90 million per year.
Asked on Times Radio if the agreement being negotiated with Mauritius was being accounted for in the funding increase, John Healey said: “This is about our defence spending. It’s about our mainstream defence budget.
“It meets an election commitment to meet 2.5% (of GDP spent on defence) at least three years earlier than anyone expected.
“And as far as the Chagos Islands go, that’s a deal that’s in the pipeline. It’s not yet signed and not yet ratified in any treaty that will be necessary before Parliament.”
Pushed further on whether any money for the Chagos deal forms part of the defence spending increase, Mr Healey added: “There is no spending on the Chagos Islands unless and until a deal is in place.
“And that’s a deal that we’re looking to strike that will safeguard the operational sovereignty of an absolutely essential base, both for us and for the US for the rest of this century and beyond.”
On Tuesday a Conservative former defence minister suggested that money earmarked for the Chagos deal could instead be spent on the armed forces.
Andrew Murrison asked the Prime Minister: “Will he look at other things that perhaps present easier choices, and in particular, his choice to spend billions of pounds on Mauritius? And will he repurpose that money in defence of our armed forces?”
There has been scepticism about the proposed deal among allies of President Donald Trump, including US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
Earlier this month it was confirmed that Mr Trump’s administration will have a seat at the talks over the Chagos Islands’ future.
A Mauritian government statement said leader Navin Ramgoolam had used a speech to affirm that the country had “shown openness and willingness to find common ground by accepting the presence of a representative from the new administration in the United States of America in the negotiations so as to further strengthen the process”.
