Ban on keir starmer signing £3. 4bn chagos deal lifted after emergency hearing

The UK has signed a £3.4billion deal to hand over the Chagos Islands after an eleventh-hour legal challenge failed. Keir Starmer's government was temporarily blocked from concluding an

agreement to give sovereignty over the remote set of islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius. It follows a bitter decades-long battle over the territory, which includes a key UK-US military

base on the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia. Chagossians were expelled from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for the military base, in one of the most shameful examples of

modern British colonialism. The deal negotiated by Mr Starmer allows the UK to lease Diego Garcia for 99 years, with an option for a 40-year extension. The UK will retain full operational

control of the base, which includes an electromagnetic spectrum satellite used for communications to counter hostile interference. A 24-nautical mile buffer zone will be put in place around

the island - so the UK has to consent to anything that is built or placed there. The base is strategically important at a time of rivalries between Western countries and China. The Prime

Minister said the deal was the only way to maintain the strategically important base in the long term, adding: "We will never gamble with national security." Speaking from the

UK's military headquarters at Northwood, he said: "By agreeing to this deal now on our terms, we're securing strong protections, including from malign influence, that will

allow the base to operate well into the next century, helping to keep us safe for generations to come." Not agreeing the deal would mean the UK could not prevent China or any other

nation setting up their own bases on the outer islands or carrying out joint exercises near Britain's base, he said. "We would have to explain to you, the British people and to our

allies, that we'd lost control of this vital asset," he added. However he faced questions over the estimated £3.4billion price tag, after saying it would cost £101million a year.

Challenged that the annual cost would add up to nearer £10 billion over the course of 99 years, the Prime Minister said it was the "net cost" accounting for inflation over time. It

comes after a dramatic day, when an injunction was granted at 2.25am by a High Court judge - hours before the PM was due to sign-off the deal. Mr Justice Goose granted "interim

relief" to Bertrice Pompe, one of two British women born on the Chagos Islands who had previously taken steps to bring legal action over the deal. But after an urgent hearing, Mr

Justice Chamberlain said the injunction should be discharged. Ms Pompe said it was a "very, very sad day" but vowed to keep fighting. She added: "They are not treating us,

that we are human beings. We have rights. We are British citizens, yet our right doesn't count? "We don't want to give our rights, hand over our rights to Mauritius.

We're not Mauritians, and I don't think we will get any ... the rights we're asking for now, we've been fighting for for 60 years. Mauritius is not going to give that to

us. So we need to keep fighting with the British Government to listen to us." The International Court of Justice previously ruled the UK's administration of the territory was

"unlawful" and Mauritanian sovereignty was recognised by the UN General Assembly and the international tribunal of the law of the sea (Itlos). Negotiations on the deal were begun

under the Tory Government. But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: "We should not be paying to surrender British territory to Mauritius." Asked if she raised concerns with Tory

James Cleverly when he was leading negotiations under the previous government, she said David Cameron was the last Conservative foreign secretary and that he "paused all this".