Sir Keir Starmer confirms he has signed an agreement to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal that will cost £101 million per year. Speaking from the UK's military headquarters, the prime minister says the base is "one of the most significant contributions that we make to our security relationship with the United States". Report by Blairm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Good afternoon. A few moments ago, I signed a deal to secure the joint UK-US base on Diego
00:18Garcia. This is absolutely vital for our defence and intelligence and therefore for the safety
00:28and security of the British people. The full assessment of why this is so important is highly
00:35classified, but I want to speak as frankly as I can. The strategic location of this base
00:44is of the utmost significance to Britain. From deploying aircraft to defeat terrorists
00:50in Iraq and Afghanistan, to anticipating threats in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific, the base
00:57is right at the foundation of our security and safety at home. The base is one of the
01:06most significant contributions that we make to our security relationship with the United
01:12States, which is critical for keeping Britain safe. Almost everything we do from the base
01:21is in partnership with the US. President Trump has welcomed the deal along with other allies
01:29because they see the strategic importance of this base and that we cannot cede the ground
01:36to others who would seek to do us harm.