Sir Keir Starmer pulled his deal to surrender the Chagos Islands on Friday night.

Just days after Donald Trump blasted the UK for ‘an act of great stupidity’ in signing the strategically important archipelago away, Labour withdrew the legislation from a planned debate in the House of Lords on Monday.

While sources claimed the process was simply being delayed, critics warned that without US support it was effectively dead.

Conservative peer Daniel Hannan said: ‘We have secured a breathing space. It is now up to Trump and the people around him. If the President sticks to what he said this week, the deal is off.

‘If he allows himself to be talked around by the State Department’s permanent officials, it will come back.

‘It is, I admit, a humiliating thing for Britain that the final decision should be in the hands of our American allies. We ought to have put a stop to the whole business ourselves.

‘Still, for the first time in 14 months I am starting to think we might win.’

If the sale is dropped, it would be the 15th U-turn of Sir Keir’s time in office.

Keir Starmer tonight pulled his deal to surrender the Chagos Islands days after Donald Trump blasted the UK for ‘an act of great stupidity’ in signing the strategically important archipelago away

Starmer’s deal would see Britain cede sovereignty but pay billions of pounds to lease back the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia (pictured), the largest of the islands.

Last year, Sir Keir signed an agreement with Mauritius – an ally of China – in which Britain would cede sovereignty but have to pay billions of pounds to lease back the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Indian Ocean islands.

Despite the White House signing off the sale during the presidency of Mr Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, there was hope among critics that Mr Trump would scupper it in his second term.

David Lammy, who was then foreign secretary, even said there would be no deal without Mr Trump’s support.

Last May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Washington ‘welcomed’ the deal, saying it secured the ‘long-term, stable, and effective operation’ of Diego Garcia, which he described as a ‘critical asset for regional and global security’.

But this week, Mr Trump suddenly turned on the deal as he feuded with Nato allies in his bid to take over Greenland in the ‘interests of US national security’.

In an angry post on his Truth Social site, he stated: ‘Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.

‘There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.’

He said later: ‘I think when they originally were going to do it they were talking about some concept of ownership, but now they’re looking to essentially just do a lease and sell it. And I’m against that.’

Mr Trump is said to have changed his mind after warnings from his defence chiefs that the deal would make Diego Garcia less secure.

However, Downing Street vowed to press ahead regardless.

On Friday night, Labour sources insisted the deal was merely delayed and would be coming back to the table.

But Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said: ‘In the face of relentless Conservative pressure, Labour have pulled their shameful Chagos surrender Bill from Monday’s order paper.

‘This is a major victory for everyone standing against Keir Starmer’s disgraceful Chagos surrender.

‘The deal, which hands British sovereign territory and £35billion to an ally of China, should be dropped altogether. The Conservatives will continue to fight the surrender every step of the way.’ Referring to the ‘Chagos Bill ping-pong vote’, crossbench peer Kate Hoey, a former Labour MP, posted on X: ‘Government knows defeat was likely as many Labour Peers now realising this is a Bill which was not in the manifesto, not in the UK national interest, is costing taxpayers billions and is being pushed by lawyers and ignoring Chagossians views.’

It comes after Tory peers demanded to know if the agreement complied with international law. The Tories warned it would break a UN treaty between the UK and US in 1966 which stated: ‘The territory shall remain under UK sovereignty.’

Shadow Foreign Office spokesman, Lord Callanan said this was ‘in direct contradiction’ of the 2025 deal and so would ‘place the UK in breach of international law’.