Tories: Chagos Islands deal falling apart every day
Britain's deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia is "falling apart every day", the Conservatives have said, as they repeated their call for it to be scrapped.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the Government had come up with a "surrender deal" to give away sovereignty of the islands, and claimed it had "gaslit" critics.
The agreement would hand over sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius and secure the operation of a joint UK-US base on the island of Diego Garcia for at least 99 years. The UK would also make payments to Mauritius .
It comes after the Government postponed a debate on the deal in the House of Lords , following the Tories tabling an amendment that called for a pause "in the light of the changing geopolitical circumstances".
Their bid to halt the legislation came after US president Donald Trump branded the deal an "act of great stupidity", despite previous support from the White House.
Labour's foreign minister Seema Malhotra said Tory criticisms were "political point-scoring at the expense of our national security".
Ms Malhotra also reminded MPs that the Conservative Party had begun negotiations with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands.
Speaking in the Commons, Dame Priti said: "Labour's £35 billion Chagos surrender deal is falling apart every single day and it's high time that the Prime Minister tore up this atrocious surrender treaty and put Britain's interests and our defence first and our security first and Britain's hard-pressed taxpayers first.
"This side of the House has made it clear from day one at every opportunity, to expose the deceit, falsehoods and foolishness of the approach taken by Labour."
The Conservatives were also critical of the impact of the Government's policies on exiled Chagossians both in the UK and Mauritius .
"This Labour Government will go down in history for many many terrible things, and they can now add to that list of shame, the repression and betrayal of the Chagossian people.
"Labour must rethink their deeply corrosive policy which is putting our security and the safety of the Chagossian people at risk," Dame Priti said.
She later said: "Instead of showing some humility, transparency and commitment to engage in proper scrutiny, Labour has sought to gaslight its critics, and the British people."
Dame Priti added: "Conservatives have opposed this Bill from day one at every stage, and we will continue to do so."
The Tories proposed a non-binding motion, to be voted on by MPs on Wednesday, which raises objections to the deal.
Responding to Dame Priti, Ms Malhotra said the Tory motion contained "wildly exaggerated" claims, including on cost.
She said: "This isn't patriotic. It is political point-scoring at the expense of our national security. A sad indictment of what the official opposition have become."
Ms Malhotra said the Government was "confident" the base at Diego Garcia will be protected for "many years".
She indicated the deal, if agreed and ratified, would enable the UK to operate the base with nuclear weapons, despite claims from the Mauritian deputy prime minister that they would be opposed.
"We will continue to be able to deploy the full range of advanced military capabilities to Diego Garcia," Ms Malhotra said.
She warned that if the Diego Garcia base was lost due to a legal challenge, the UK would struggle to defend its foothold in the Indo-Pacific.
She said: "Given these security risks this Government, like the government before it, made the decision to negotiate with Mauritius , to secure a deal to protect the base and to protect the UK.
"Our agreement ensures full operational control of Diego Garcia, a 24-nautical mile buffer zone where nothing can be built or based without UK consent."
She continued: "This deal was right and essential to do. It protects our national interest. It defends our national security. It protects the Diego Garcia base from legal threat. It supports the Chagossian community, and preserves the unique environment in the archipelago.
"We know that the best way to do that is to pursue this deal, and it is time the opposition realised, or should I say, remembered that, too."
The Conservatives' opposition day motion, which opposes the Government ceding sovereignty of the territory, was defeated 103 votes to 284 - majority 181.