Overview

• MPs voted 330–179 to advance the Diego Garcia Military Base and itish InIndian Ocean Territory Bill, which implements the May agreement to transfer Chagos sovereignty to Mauritius while leasing Diego Garcia to the UK for 99 years.
• Chagossian campaigners, led by Bertrice Pompe, referred Sir Keir Starmer, David Lammy and John Healey to the International Criminal Court alleging crimes against humanity linked to continued exclusion from Diego Garcia; the ICC will decide whether to open a preliminary probe.
• The government cites a net present value cost of £3.4 billion, averaging about £101 million a year, while official nominal figures from the Government Actuary’s Department are £34.7 billion and new analysis from the TaxPayers’ Alliance estimates up to roughly £47 billion.
• More than 40 former ministers, MPs and military figures wrote to President Trump asking him to oppose the deal, warning that Mauritius’s obligations under the Pelindaba Treaty could constrain nuclear‑related operations and weaken allied use of the base.
• Ministers say the treaty was necessary to avert imminent international legal rulings that would degrade UK control of the base, but critics reject the argument and point to UNCLOS provisions that exempt disputes over military activities.