Conservatives have attacked "costly" plans to surrender the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which has reportedly made huge demands in talks.

Britain has been asked to pay up billions of pounds of taxpayers' cash as part of the Chagos Islands surrender, it has emerged. In October, Sir Keir Starmer and Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth announced that the two countries had agreed to hand over the British Overseas Territory,

Tories demand answers on ‘basic facts’ about ‘crumbling’ Chagos Islands deal as Mauritius PM Dr Navin Ramgoolam has pulls the plug on agreement demanding talks are reopened

The UK rejected a report that a deal struck with Mauritius to cede sovereignty of the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean to the African nation while retaining control of a key military base could cost Britain £800 million ($1 billion) or more per year.

Downing Street has refused to reveal how much it has offered to pay Mauritius for a 99-year lease of the crucial Anglo-American military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos atolls.