Sir Keir Starmer clashed with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch over the deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

Sir Keir Starmer said legal certainty was required over the future of the Diego Garcia military base. Sir Keir Starmer warned national security could be put at risk without a deal to give “legal certainty” over the status of the Chagos Islands and the strategically important Diego Garcia military base.

Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire at PMQs after Mauritius said the UK had agreed to change payment terms in its deal to hand it control of the Chagos Islands. It comes after Mauritian PM Navin Ramgoolam claimed the UK had now agreed to front-load the payments and change how they are calculated.

The UK government said it wouldn’t provide any details on a proposed multibillion-pound deal to continue operating a military base in the Chagos archipelago once it cedes control of the islands until it’s finalized,

There are signs of unease within the Government about the plan to hand over the British Indian Ocean Territory.

The UK government has denied claims made by the prime minister of Mauritius that it faces paying billions more under a renegotiated deal over the future of the Chagos Islands. Last October, the UK announced it would hand over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius but would maintain a 99-year lease over the UK-US military airbase on the largest island,