Wes Streeting confirms Labour will push ahead with 'crazy' Chagos surrender deal

He also said he was working "closely" with the US, who have repeatedly and publicly opposed the deal.

Mr Trump previously slammed the deal as an "act of great stupidity" when Sir Keir Starmer attempted to cede the islands to the Mauritius as Labour leader.

Mr Streeting, outlining the Government's position on the islands, wrote to James Cartlidge, the Shadow Defence Secretary: "The joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia is critical to the security of the UK and our allies, and the government remains committed to the agreement as the best way to secure the long-term operations of the base and protect it from legal challenge."

On Thursday, the President told GB News the Chagos deal was "terrible".

"It was like they were giving it to people that nobody even knows if they have any right to it," he said.

"That was your previous government. I think your new Prime Minister will have to look at that. But that was very bad."

The Chagos Islands is home to the strategically important joint US-UK Diego Garcia military base, currently being used to refuel and service fighter jets striking Iran.

Sir Keir's deal would hand the islands to Mauritius while paying, on average, £101 million annually for 99 years to lease back the military base, totalling around £34billion in nominal terms - opponents of the deal have suggested it could cost closer to £50billion.

Jonathan Powell, one of the architects and chief negotiators of the Mauritius deal retained his position as national security adviser under Andy Burnham.

Conservatives have repeatedly criticised the "shameful surrender" deal and raised concerns that weakness over the Chagos deal has encouraged President of Argentina Javier Milei to take the Falkland Islands.

Mr Cartlidge told The Times: "We now have it in black and white that Burnham's Labour will continue with Starmer's crazy Chagos deal.

"The letter from the defence secretary confirms that Labour have no funded plan to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence, but do have a plan to surrender British sovereign territory."

Tensions around Chagos are likely to come to a head at the UN's next General Assembly meeting in New York, the first face-to-face meeting between the Prime Minister and the President.

Mauritian sources previously indicated they plan to use the UN summit to pile pressure on Mr Burnham to honour the agreement.

Sarah Elliott, a board member at Republicans Overseas UK, said Mr Trump was likely to continue his opposition of the deal.

"I think it is a terrible move by the government," she said. "Don't expect the president to necessarily be favourable in recognising the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands."

Diplomatic relations between Washington and London have been increasingly strained - Mike Huckabee, US Ambassador to Israel, accused the Government of antisemitism after Ed Miliband published a video describing stories he had heard from people in Gaza.

Mr Huckabee said: "The Brits have lost it. The Jew hate of their government knows no boundaries and knows no facts."

And, speaking to GB News, the President indicated the US may not support Britain over the issue of Falkland Islands sovereignty because the UK was "not there to help" during the early stages of the Iran war.

He said: "Your country was not there to help me. We didn't need help, but I did ask Nato, and I asked your former leader, 'why didn't you send a couple of ships?'

"He said we don't have any, and it was pretty sad, the whole thing. So Nato was not there, even though they get - most of those countries get - a big portion of their oil from there. So we're doing that by ourselves."