Minister Rubbishes Tory Claims That Chagos Deal Will Cost £30bn With 1 Key Point

Luke Pollard tore into the Conservative claims that the government’s Chagos deal will cost almost ten times what Labour say it will.

Prime minister Keir Starmer finally signed the agreement to hand the archipelago over to Mauritius on Thursday, after months of delays.

The UK and the US will still be able to use their military base on Chagos’ largest island, Diego Garcia, at the cost of £101 million per year.

The deal stretches over a 99-year period – meaning the total sum for renting that base will come to £3.4 billion for the government.

However, the Tories claim this so-called “surrender deal” will actually cost the taxpayer £30 billion over the next 99 years, due to rising inflation and the extra funding needed for development projects in Mauritius.

The armed forces minister Pollard was quick to slap down such claims this morning, though.

He pointed to the formula the government used to come up with the £3.4bn figure – and reminded the Tories they used the same one when in power.

“It is £3.4bn. It has been calculated using Treasury formulas that are used to calculate long-term agreements,” Pollard said while speaking to LBC.

“That’s the same as we use for pensions, infrastructure and investment, nuclear decommissioning, it’s the same ones the last government used.

“They were introduced in 2003, so that’s why it’s £100m rent per year, totalling over 99 years to £3.4bn.

“That’s the right way to calculate long-term commitments that our country makes.” 

Pollard also defended the deal on Sky News, saying: “We’ve been able to secure a deal that has strengthened the protections.”

He pointed out that the deal is backed by US, India, Canada, New Zealand and Nato.

“The people who oppose our deal are Russia, China, Iran and unbelievably the leader of the opposition [Kemi Badenoch] and Reform,” Pollard noted.

“We need to make sure that the case for our national security always comes before party politics, that’s why we’ve secured this deal and it is a good deal for our country.”