The Chagos Islands could remain in legal limbo for years after Labour admitted its ‘surrender’ deal can’t proceed without the support of Donald Trump.

Andy Burnham agreed to review the plans to hand control of the islands to Mauritius after the US President savaged the ‘terrible’ £35billion deal during their first face-to-face meeting.

And on Wednesday Defence Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed the plans were on hold as any agreement ‘needs to have the support of the Americans’.

But British officials said it is unclear how the deal can be reworked despite these claims, as the interests of Washington and Mauritius are so at odds.

That means despite the ‘review’, in reality the Chagos deal has been kicked into the long grass until there is a new US President, according to Bloomberg.

This could leave the strategically vital joint US-UK airbase on Diego Garcia in legal limbo for years as negotiations with China ally Mauritius are stalled.

Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday night called on the Prime Minister to take the initiative and ‘scrap this terrible deal’.

The Tory leader said: ‘In the space of 24 hours, Andy Burnham managed to have three positions on the Chagos Islands.

‘Rather than these silly contortions, he should just scrap this terrible deal.’

However, Mr Streeting denied there would be an ‘ostrich strategy’ of simply waiting for a new US President, with Mr Trump’s term not due to end until January 2029. 

‘I’m not pretending that’s an easy position and that resolving this is not going to be difficult. It is difficult and necessarily painstaking work, but it is necessary,’ he told Times Radio.

‘And the ostrich strategy of sticking our heads in the sand and hoping it won’t go away, I would caution, is not a wise strategy when it concerns one of the most sensitive national security assets we have anywhere in the world.’

But shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: ‘If Burnham was really serious about our defence he would know that this deal should be binned entirely.

‘It is absurd to hand over British sovereign territory, not to mention billions of pounds of hard-pressed taxpayers' money, to an ally of China.’ 

Under Sir Keir Starmer, Britain agreed to hand ownership of the British Indian Ocean territory to Mauritius and lease back the UK-US airbase on Diego Garcia at a cost of £35billion on a 99-year deal.

But Mr Trump killed any prospect of this off in January this year when he called it an ‘act of great stupidity’.

Speaking to reporters en route to New York earlier this week, Mr Burnham had insisted he was ‘determined’ to see the deal through, adding it was critical to the long-term operation of the base.

He said he would ‘work towards a resolution’ with the President.

But at their meeting in New York, Mr Trump said the Prime Minister had failed to change his mind, adding: ‘I don’t support it. I think it’s terrible. It was a terrible deal.

‘They [Mauritius] all of a sudden say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before, after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous.

‘No, we were talking about that, and [the islands are] strategically very important. Very important. You know, we had to send our B2 bombers… back home to Missouri [after a bombing raid on Iran], as opposed to flying for a short period of time.

‘It’s amazing how strategic it is, and I think the Prime Minister is going to be looking at it.’

Mr Burnham nodded in agreement and replied: ‘Yeah.’

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