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A high court judge has blocked the UK government from concluding its deal to hand over the Chagos Islands with an injunction granted in the early hours of Thursday.
The agreement to hand sovereignty over the Chagos islands to Mauritius was due to be given the green light by ministers on Thursday.
Downing Street lifted its objection to announcing the deal over the prospect of a political backlash, according to reports, with the prime minister due to attend a virtual event with the Mauritian government.
But in the injunction granted at 2.25am on Thursday, brought against the Foreign Office, Mr Justice Goose granted “interim relief” to Bertrice Pompe.
Pompe, who was born on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago, has taken legal action against the agreement.
Goose said in his order: “The defendant shall take no 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.”
A hearing is expected to take place on Thursday morning at 10:30am.
Under the agreement, Britain will cede control over the islands to Mauritius but lease Diego Garcia for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there. Ministers have refused to disclose the cost of the lease but it is has been reported to be about £90m a year.
A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.”
No 10 said last month that Donald Trump had signed off the deal, after a February meeting with Keir Starmer in the White House where the US president said he had “a feeling it’s going to work out very well”.
Some inside government and the Labour party had attacked the agreement by asking why the UK was spending billions on it amid cost pressures.
Downing Street is said to have been concerned about a “toxic” backlash were the deal to be announced amid widespread consternation over cuts to winter fuel payments and disability benefits.
MPs and campaigners have said that those cuts contributed to Labour’s heavy losses in the local elections in England earlier this month.
The news of the government’s intention to green-light the deal came a day after Starmer announced a U-turn on the winter fuel allowance. He told the Commons on Wednesday that he wanted to “ensure that as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments”. The Guardian revealed earlier this month that Downing Street was rethinking the policy.
Before February, there had been concerns in government that Trump would block the Chagos Islands agreement, after it triggered backlash from the Conservatives and senior US Republicans.
Senior figures in the Trump administration including Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, had criticised the proposals because of Mauritius’ relationship with China.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, repeatedly claimed that Trump would reject the proposal once he had turned his attention to it, but this did not materialise.
