A British minister denied on Wednesday media reports that the government could end up paying billions of pounds more to Mauritius under a renegotiated deal to retain a U.S.-British military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

If Britain wants to remain a reliable partner in our security alliance, it must be willing to defend its sovereignty. As much as President Trump uses unpredictability as a diplomatic tool, I can predict one thing for sure: there is no way he will allow Britain to give up its sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.

Mauritius has indicated that it has secured more concessions from the United Kingdom in the Chagos Islands deal, raising the lease payments for the Diego Garcia military base

Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire at PMQs over the cost of the government's deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Earlier, the UK said newspaper reports that the effective price tag has jumped from £9bn to £18bn were "entirely inaccurate".

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

The Tory leader says Labour's negotiations could cost the UK billions; the prime minister questions whether Badenoch has been "properly briefed" on UK security.