As Argentina, emboldened by Keir Starmer’s surrender of Chagos, vows to reclaim ‘Las Malvinas’, senior military voices and MPs say… hands off our Falklands!
Argentina has vowed to make a fresh grab for the Falklands following Labour’s surrender of the Chagos Islands.
Buenos Aires ‘welcomed’ Sir Keir Starmer’s humiliating handover of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius.
And Argentine officials pledged to ‘recover full sovereignty of Las Malvinas’ – 42 years after the Falklands War.
Yesterday veterans, politicians and members of the Armed Forces urged Sir Keir to slap down Argentina’s renewed calls for the South Atlantic islands.
But the Prime Minister refused to guarantee that no other British Overseas Territories would be given away – sparking a panicked clarification from a No 10 spokesman.
The Falklands Conflict, April – June 1982: Commandos from 40 Commando Anti-Tank Troop march towards Port Stanley in amongst a column of from 45 Commando
Argentine officials pledged to ‘recover full sovereignty of Las Malvinas’ – 42 years after the Falklands War
When asked directly, Sir Keir failed to guarantee the future of the Falklands yesterday. Instead he focused on the Chagos handover and the future of the Diego Garcia (pictured) UK-US military base
Hours after Labour confirmed it would give the Chagos Islands to one of China’s main allies, Argentine foreign minister Diana Mondino said: ‘The long dispute between Britain and Mauritius has come to a conclusion… we welcome this step in the right direction and the end to outdated practices.’
In an inflammatory intervention, she added: ‘With concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty of Las Malvinas.
‘Las Malvinas were, are and always will be Argentine.’
Her post was shared by Argentina’s firebrand president Javier Milei, who has previously endorsed the country’s ‘unwavering claim’ to the Falklands.
The comments have sparked outrage, with former prime minister Boris Johnson saying Labour’s decision over the Chagos Islands has left him ‘genuinely anxious about Britain overseas’.
He writes in today’s Daily Mail: ‘This is what happens when you are governed not by Blairites – as [Labour] pretended to be at the election – but by Leftie ideologues, people who secretly or openly hate such vital concepts as US hegemony, ‘Western values’, Nato and an independent British nuclear deterrent.’
Ex-Tory Armed Forces minister Mark Francois said: ‘Britain fought a war to liberate the Falklands from a fascist military junta, in which many of our servicemen gave their lives.
‘So, following the total debacle over the Chagos Islands, Starmer’s failure to categorically refute Argentina’s renewed claims over the Falklands is utterly hopeless.
‘As PM, he owes it to all Falklands veterans to now deliver a categorical, unambiguous refusal to the Argentinians, at the despatch box in the House of Commons. Nothing else will now suffice.’
Former prime minister Boris Johnson saying Labour’s decision over the Chagos Islands has left him ‘genuinely anxious about Britain overseas’
Drum Major Willie Urban, 68, was sent to the Falklands with the Scots Guards when he was 25
Ex-defence secretary Grant Shapps said Margaret Thatcher, who was prime minister during the Falklands War, would be ‘turning in her grave at the idea that we just handed over sovereignty of British possessions’
Drum Major Willie Urban was sent to the Falklands with the Scots Guards, aged 25, aboard the QE2 in May 1982.
Now 68, the veteran, from Midlothian, said: ‘I think there would be a coup if Britain even thought about giving the Falklands over – a coup against the Government. The people want them to be under British sovereignty.’
When asked directly, Sir Keir failed to guarantee the future of the Falklands yesterday. Instead he focused on the Chagos handover and the future of the Diego Garcia UK-US military base.
In a later clarification, a spokesman for the PM said: ‘The sovereignty of the Falklands is not up for debate. Chagos does not change our policy or approach to other overseas territories.’
Falklands governor Alison Blake also sought to reassure islanders that Britain’s commitment to the territory was ‘unwavering’.
Ex-defence secretary Grant Shapps said Margaret Thatcher, who was prime minister during the Falklands War, would be ‘turning in her grave at the idea that we just handed over sovereignty of British possessions’.
He added: ‘We are lucky that Starmer wasn’t in charge when Argentina invaded the Falklands. He would have handed them over on a silver platter.’
Former military intelligence officer Colonel Philip Ingram said the timing of the Chagos Islands decision, at a time of heightened global tensions, was ‘naive bordering on reckless’.
Ex-British Army commander Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: ‘We cannot go around appeasing everyone who has an angst against this country.’
Successive British prime ministers have stood firm in dismissing Argentina’s claim to the Falklands, around 300 miles from the Patagonian coast.
As recently as February, then-foreign secretary Lord Cameron said Britain was ready to defend the islands ‘for ever’. Argentina’s populist president, who was elected last December, had previously signalled a possible Hong Kong-style agreement in which Britain handed sovereignty of the archipelago to Argentina.
As recently as February, then-foreign secretary Lord Cameron said Britain was ready to defend the Falklands islands ‘for ever’
But, following Lord Cameron’s comments, Mr Milei admitted that any future decision about the Falklands was ‘in the hands of the UK’.
It came as reports suggested US officials were privately concerned about the Chagos deal, given concerns about Mauritius’ close links to expansionist China.
Officials were also said to have ‘actively warned against’ the move amid fears that China could establish listening posts on other islands.
A Whitehall source told The Times: ‘It’s baffling that this has happened given that we’re effectively in a cold war with China.’
But Jonathan Powell, special envoy for negotiations between the UK and Mauritius, dismissed these claims.
He told Times Radio: ‘They were very pleased to get this agreement, which is why President Biden issued a statement warmly welcoming it.’
In 2013, Falkland Island residents voted almost unanimously to stay under British rule in a referendum.
Other British Overseas Territories include Ascension Island in the South Atlantic and Pitcairn in the Pacific, Britain’s smallest colony
