Chagos deal paused by last-minute legal action

The government has temporarily been banned from concluding talks on the Chagos Islands deal by a last-minute injunction by a High Court judge.

At 02:25 BST Mr Justice Goose granted "interim relief" to two Chagossian women who had brought a case against the Foreign Office.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had been expected to attend a virtual signing ceremony with representatives of the Mauritian government on Thursday morning.

The agreement would see the UK hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but allow the UK and US to continue using an airbase located on the Pacific Ocean archipelago.

The court will hear the case again at 10:30 on Thursday.

In his order, the judge said: "The defendant shall take no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer."

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