Mauritius is demanding £800 million a year and billions in reparations over the controversial Chagos Islands deal

Mauritius is demanding £800 million a year and ‘billions of pounds in reparations’ as part of the beleaguered Chagos Islands negotiations, it emerged today.

Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls to abandon his surrender of the archipelago after Mauritius’ new government rejected a proposed deal and began demanding more money.

Downing Street has refused to reveal how much it has offered to pay Mauritius for a 99-year lease on the crucial Anglo-American military base at Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos atolls.

But a source familiar with the talks told the Sunday Times: ‘They wanted crazy money.

“They were talking about £800m a year for as long as we wanted to keep the base there, plus billions of pounds in reparations.”

Sources close to David Lammy, the current Foreign Secretary, said British negotiators never “considered” paying these amounts. But they did not deny that it was ever requested.

And they refused to say how close they were to the demands they agreed, saying simply that the proposed deal was “underpinned by a financial package that will underpin a new era of economic partnership between Britain and Mauritius.”

Critics of giving up the archipelago’s sovereignty fear Labor is trying to speed up a deal before Donald Trump re-enters the White House.

Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) has faced calls to abandon his surrender of the archipelago after Mauritius’ new government rejected a proposed deal and began demanding more money.

Protesters express their opposition to the deal outside parliament. Downing Street has refused to reveal how much it has offered to pay Mauritius for a 99-year lease on the crucial Anglo-American military base at Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos atolls.

Marco Rubio, the president-elect’s secretary of state, has warned that the deal posed a “serious threat” to US national security by handing the islands to a country with ties to China.

Last week, the new Mauritian leader, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, had a telephone conversation with the outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is also keen to get the deal over the line.

The Prime Minister told his MPs afterwards: “I made it clear to him that we do not agree with certain matters included in the agreement concluded on October 3 by the former Prime Minister of Mauritius and informed him that we have made a counter-proposal that will be sent. it.’

Days earlier, his deputy had suggested that Mauritius is demanding more money to allow the continued operation of the base on Diego Garcia.

Mauritius Deputy Prime Minister Paul Berenger told voters: “This base existed on our land, on our territory… but it is not just about our sovereignty.

The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, located in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia

Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago

“There are some things you cannot accept if you are a true patriot. They’re trying to force us to sign and they’re bickering over a small amount of money.’

The Labor government insists the deal is not dead and that Mauritius’ new government is willing to make a deal.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘Such a large sum was not considered at any time during the negotiations between Britain and Mauritius.’

Talks were started by the previous Tory government, but an agreement was never reached because ministers were unwilling to agree terms at the time.

A source said: ‘There was no feeling among us that we would get a win. That’s why it doesn’t happen.

“We already knew it had a terrible stench.”