London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Jonathan Powell, Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser, will visit Washington to address the Chagos Islands deal with newly elected President Trump’s team.
As reported by The Guardian, the UK government is sending Keir Starmer’s national security adviser to Washington as the British government seeks to convince Donal Trump from overturning the Chagos Islands deal.
According to four sources, Jonathan Powell, who led negotiations for the Chagos agreement, is preparing to visit Washington shortly.
Mr. Powell, who served as Downing Street chief of staff to Tony Blair for ten years, is arranging early meetings with Trump’s team before the president-elect’s oath-taking on January 20.
A senior source revealed that the trip is not solely about the Chagos Islands deal but also an opportunity to introduce Starmer’s government to the Trump administration, this visit will also include additional government officials.
UK ministers are concerned Trump will reject the Chagos Islands deal, which would transfer control to Mauritius. Diego Garcia will stay under UK control for at least 99 years.
The talks are being described as “a crucial working meeting” with “the objective of deepening the discussions and finalizing the ends of the Anglo-Mauritian treaty on the Chagos Archipelago, as well as the details of the 99-year lease for the American military base in Diego Garcia.”
The Chagos deal finalized by Mr Powell last month, followed two years of negotiations initiated under Rishi SUnak’s government.
The US election outcome has raised doubts over the handover, with Trump’s pick for secretary of state warning in October that the deal poses “a serious threat” to US national security by handing the islands to a China-aligned nation.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, said this month that Trump’s team was “outrightly hostile” to the deal and would try to block it. He also shared in the House of Commons that “Diego Garcia was described to me by a senior Trump adviser as the most important island on the planet as far as America was concerned.”
Powell is ready to assume the national security adviser position, was in Mauritius this week, when the government he negotiated with faced a landslide loss due to a wiretapping scandal.
He will travel to Washington to persuade Trump’s advisers that the handover plan is key to securing the future of Diego Garcia base.
Members of the Trump team have been exploring parliamentary timetables to see if the deal can be expedited, while also looking for “off ramps” that would enable Starmer to back out gracefully.
One source told the press, “There are many options in this regard.”
A Brexiteer parliamentary researcher working closely with the Trump team told The Independent, “They couldn’t understand why it was agreed and whether it was Biden or Starmer.”
David Lammy, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, defended the deal in an interview with The New Statesman, pointing out that it secured the use of the base for over 99 years.
He said, “I’m very confident that when the new administration looks at the details of this deal that they will stand behind it because Donald Trump knows what a good deal looks like [a reference to his 1987 book The Art of the Deal] – and this is a good deal.”
The government has resisted revealing the costs involved in leasing back the base.
The Independent news contacted the Foreign Office for response, the Downing Street spokesperson said, “We are working with the new Mauritian government to progress a landmark deal that protects our base; it secures the long-term protection of the base.”
They added, “Our position remains unchanged. We’re finalising the details of the treaty, which will come forward for scrutiny as part of the ratification process next year. There has not been any change to the timelines.”