The UK government’s Chagos Islands handover deal is blocked by a high court

A judge in the High Court has issued an injunction that stops the UK from giving the Chagos Islands to Mauritius until there is a legal fight.

An injunction was granted by a High Court judge hours before the deal was supposed to be approved. It stopped the UK government from finalizing its controversial deal to give Mauritius control of the Chagos Islands.

Mr. Justice Goose made the decision at 2:25 a.m. on Thursday in response to a lawsuit brought by Bertrice Pompe, a woman who was born on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago. Pompe is questioning the deal because it doesn’t protect the rights of the people of Chagos.

Goose wrote in the court order that the defendant “shall not take any conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer.” This was to give the defendant temporary relief.

At 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, there will likely be a full meeting.

Thursday was supposed to be the day the UK announced the deal. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was going to be at a virtual event with the Mauritian government. Reports say that Downing Street has recently stopped being uncertain about when to make the news because they were afraid of a political backlash.

Under the plan, Britain would give Mauritius control of the Chagos Islands in exchange for renting Diego Garcia for 99 years so that the joint US-UK military base there could continue to run. The lease is thought to cost around £90 million a year, but officials have refused to say how much it costs.

“We do not comment on ongoing legal cases,” a government spokesman said. This deal is the best way to keep the British people safe and our country secure.

The decision to go ahead with the agreement has made both the government and the Labour Party nervous. Critics are questioning how much the deal will cost at a time when public spending is already being cut, especially after cuts to winter fuel payments and disability benefits, which some say helped Labour lose the local elections.

Starmer’s news of a policy U-turn on winter fuel payments made things even more tense around the handover. This showed that Downing Street was becoming more worried about the timing and appearance of the Chagos deal.

People were worried that US President Donald Trump would block the deal because of Mauritius’s relationship with China and pressure from Republicans like Secretary of State Marco Rubio. However, Trump is said to have approved the deal after meeting with Starmer in the White House in February.