Donald Trump has reportedly delivered an ultimatum to Sir Keir Starmer that threatens to derail Britain's agreement to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius unless Westminster permits American forces to launch military strikes against Iran from the Diego Garcia military base, according to reports in The Telegraph.
The extraordinary demand places the Prime Minister in an impossible position between honouring a post-colonial agreement negotiated over years and maintaining the so-called Special Relationship with Washington, whilst potentially becoming complicit in a significant Middle East military escalation.
As they say in Westminster, "the constitution is what happens"—precedent matters more than law. And the precedent here is deeply uncomfortable: Britain finding itself pressured to facilitate American military action in the Indian Ocean from a base it has agreed to transfer to Mauritian sovereignty.
The Chagos Islands deal, finalised after lengthy negotiations, would see the UK hand sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius whilst maintaining a 99-year lease on Diego Garcia for continued military use. The agreement was hailed by the Foreign Office as resolving a long-standing post-colonial injustice—the Chagossian people were forcibly removed from their homes in the 1960s to make way for the American military installation.
Trump's reported intervention comes as tensions between Washington and Tehran reach breaking point, with both the UK and US withdrawing embassy staff from Iran and Israel in recent days—a clear signal that military action may be imminent.
The timing could hardly be worse for Downing Street. The Labour government has already faced criticism from backbenchers over its handling of foreign policy, and this ultimatum forces Starmer to choose between alienating either the Americans or those who view the Chagos agreement as a matter of principle.
Parliamentary sources suggest considerable unease amongst MPs about the prospect of Britain being drawn into a conflict with Iran through the back door. "This isn't what we signed up for when we supported the Chagos deal," one Labour backbencher told Westminster reporters on condition of anonymity. "We're talking about facilitating strikes that could trigger a regional war."
The situation recalls the difficulties faced by Tony Blair during the Iraq War, when the Special Relationship demanded British participation in American military adventures. The difference, critics note, is that at least Parliament had a vote then—however controversial. This time, the decision may rest on whether Britain values American approval over its own negotiated international agreements.
For Mauritius, which has long claimed sovereignty over Chagos, the American demand represents a troubling development. The agreement was predicated on Diego Garcia continuing as a military base, but with Mauritian sovereignty respected. Trump's ultimatum suggests Washington views the base as American territory regardless of the legal niceties.
The Foreign Office has declined to comment on what it termed "private diplomatic discussions," whilst Downing Street said only that the government "remains committed to the Chagos agreement whilst maintaining our defence relationship with the United States."
That carefully worded statement will do little to reassure either those who oppose military action against Iran or those who question whether Britain can truly claim to be returning the islands to Mauritius whilst simultaneously using them to launch American strikes.
As with so many moments in British foreign policy, the question is whether the Special Relationship is truly special—or merely one-sided.
