Keir Starmer is now set to hand the Chagos islands over to Mauritius, as planned.

Keir Starmer has just officially signed the deal to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius after the High Court lifted a temporary block on the agreement.

The long-awaited deal briefly hit an obstacle this morning after a last-minute court injunction, issued at 2.25am overnight, meant ministers were banned from concluding the agreement.

But, a new hearing held at lunchtime saw High Court judge Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled in the government’s favour and decided that the injunction should be discharged.

He said: “I have concluded that the stay granted by Mr Justice Goose should be discharged and there should be no further interim relief.”

He added: “The public interest and the interests of the United Kingdom would be substantially prejudiced by the grant or continuance of interim relief, and these matters provide a strong public interest........

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