The legal action was brought by two Chagossian woman who have criticized the lack of consultation with the community during the negotiations.
A British court has thrown out a temporary block on the UK Government from completing its negotiations to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius on Thursday.
Earlier, a judge granted an injunction at 2:25 a.m. local time against the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, preventing it from continuing discussions.
However, after a hearing at the High Court later on Thursday, a different judge ruled that the deal could go ahead.
Judge Martin Chamberlain lifted the injunction, which had earlier been imposed by Judge Julian Goose, paving the way for the Labour government to cede the Indian Ocean territory to its former colony.
The government’s lawyer James Eadie said they needed a decision by 1 p.m. local time in order for the deal to be agreed to on Thursday and that “everyone is standing by.”
He said the delay was damaging to British interests and “there is jeopardy to our international relations … [including with] our most important security and intelligence partner, the U.S.”
Following the decision, the agreement is due to be signed off on later on Thursday.
Earlier, Goose said he had granted “interim relief” to the applicants, Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe—both British nationals born in Diego Garcia—who have criticized the lack of consultation with the Chagossian community during the negotiations.
“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,” he said in his order.
That move required London to “maintain the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom over the British Indian Ocean Territory until further order.”
The later ruling overturned this.
Under the terms of the deal, the British Crown would relinquish sovereignty of the island to its former colony Mauritius and then proceed to lease back the Diego Garcia military base stationed on the archipelago for 99 years, for an as yet undisclosed fee.
billion ($12 billion) and £18 billion ($24 billion), but Starmer has dismissed these figures as “wide of the mark.”
The base is used by the U.S. military.
A UK 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.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage criticized the deal on social media platform X.
Despite the Chagos Islanders winning a High Court injunction to prevent the giving away of the islands, the government will seek to overturn this.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 22, 2025
Why is Starmer so desperate to give away the islands?
There is no legal need, it will cost us approximately £52 billion, and play…
“Why is Starmer so desperate to give away the islands?” he asked. “There is no legal need, it will cost us approximately £52 billion [$70 billion], and play into the hands of China. Why?”
By Guy Birchall
