Britain and Mauritius denied on Wednesday media reports that London could end up paying double the amount in a renegotiated deal to retain a U.S.-British military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Britain struck a deal in October to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius - a former colony that became independent in 1968 - while retaining control under a 99-year lease of the military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago.

Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire at PMQs after Mauritius said the UK had agreed to change payment terms in its deal to hand it control of the Chagos Islands. It comes after Mauritian PM Navin Ramgoolam claimed the UK had now agreed to front-load the payments and change how they are calculated.

Sir Keir Starmer has defended the controversial Chagos Islands deal after the Conservative leader branded it an "immoral surrender". The Government plans to give the British Indian Ocean Territory back to Mauritius and pay to lease the strategically important US-UK military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

Sir Keir Starmer “intends to push ahead” with the deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, the prime minister of Mauritius has told his parliament.

The Conservative leader criticised plan as an "immoral surrender", while Starmer says Badenoch is "not fit to be prime minister". | ITV National News

Keir Starmer has insisted that a deal on the 'legal certainty' of the Chagos Islands is 'vital to national security'.

Mauritius welcomes the prospect of U.S. President Donald Trump examining a deal reached by Britain and Mauritius over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, which house a U.S.-British military base, the island nation's prime minister said Tuesday.