MPs have voted down three amendments from the House of Lords after just two Labour MPs rebelled against Sir Keir Starmer’s proposed handover to Mauritius.
Blackley & Middleton South MP Graham Stringer and Crawley MP Peter Lamb rebelled on amendments seeking to stop payments to Mauritius and outline full costings.
The Labour duo were joined by former deputy leadership contender Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who defied the Prime Minister on publishing details of the methodology for the payments.
Mr Stringer had earlier urged the Government to “pause” the deal following recent criticism of it by US President Donald Trump.
Amendments 2 and 3 of the Lords’ bill, which call for the holding of a referendum for Chagossians on the terms of the treaty, were not voted on.
A vote on this had previously been ruled out by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle because it would “impose a charge on public revenue”, which the Lords cannot do.
The legislation is intended to provide a firm legal basis for the operation of the strategically important Diego Garcia facility.
Ministers have claimed the deal is necessary because international court rulings in favour of Mauritian claims to sovereignty had threatened the future of the base.
