The US president said Andy Burnham would be ‘looking at’ the deal after their meeting on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Britain will work hard to resolve a disagreement over the Chagos Islands deal, Andy Burnham has said after Donald Trump branded it a “terrible” agreement.
The US president said Mr Burnham would be “looking at” the deal after their meeting on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The agreement will see Britain hand over the Indian Ocean island chain to Mauritius, while retaining control of the joint UK-US military base on the largest island – Diego Garcia – through the £3.4 billion agreement.
Mr Trump, who has raised concerns about the security implications of the deal, said it was “ridiculous” as he met the Prime Minister and described the base as “a very important piece of real estate, militarily and strategically”.
Mr Burnham was asked by broadcasters if the president’s remarks meant the deal was now dead in the water.
He told them: “Well, obviously, I’ve inherited the situation, and we need a resolution.
“It’s critical to safeguard the future of the base, and that matters to us for security reasons, but also clearly to the United States as well.
“So what I said in the meeting is that we will work to find that resolution between the different sides, and we’ll work hard to find it.
“It was clear that we need to come to that agreement, but I’m confident we can find it working with our US partners.”
