Britain struck a deal in October to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius - a former colony that became independent in 1968 - while retaining control under a 99-year lease of the military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago.

Britain and Mauritius denied on Wednesday media reports that London could end up paying double the amount in a renegotiated deal to retain a U.S.-British military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

There are signs of unease within the Government about the plan to hand over the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire at PMQs after Mauritius said the UK had agreed to change payment terms in its deal to hand it control of the Chagos Islands. It comes after Mauritian PM Navin Ramgoolam claimed the UK had now agreed to front-load the payments and change how they are calculated.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday told his Mauritian counterpart, Navin Ramgoolam, that he wants "strong protections", including from "malign influence", for a U.S.-British military base on Diego Garcia,

The UK government said it wouldn’t provide any details on a proposed multibillion-pound deal to continue operating a military base in the Chagos archipelago once it cedes control of the islands until it’s finalized,