Starmer says Falklands are British and will remain British after Chagos Islands row

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Sir Keir Starmer declared the Falkland Islands are British and will remain British after a row about his decision to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The prime minister last week refused to rule out ending British control of Gibraltar and the Falklands as he faced a backlash over a deal with Mauritius to cede control of the remote archipelago.

Asked on Friday to guarantee no other British overseas territory would be signed away by the government, the PM dodged the question, pointing to a deal to secure the long-term future of a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

But, asked during PMQs about measures to make it easier for British citizens fishing off the Falklands to sell fish into Europe, Sir Keir said: “My uncle nearly lost his life when his ship was torpedoed defending the Falklands.”

And, over jeers in the Commons, the PM added: “They are British, and they will remain British. It's personal to me. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is equally not going to be negotiated.”

Fears were raised over the future of the Falkland Islands after the UK gave up control of the Chagos Islands, with MPs claiming the decision would “embolden nations like Argentina”.

Shortly after the deal, Argentina vowed to gain “full sovereignty” of the British-controlled group of islands in the South Atlantic.

But Falklands governor Alison Blake sought to reassure residents that Britain’s commitment to the South Atlantic territory was “unwavering”, stressing that the historical contexts of the two territories were “very different”.

Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falklands, known as Islas Malvinas in Argentina, which were the subject of a bloody conflict in 1982 when Argentine president Leopoldo Galtieri sought to take control of them by force.

The war claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel.

UK ministers have repeatedly cited the results of a 2013 referendum which saw close to 100% of voters on the islands, which have a population of about 3,500, opt to remain a British Overseas Territory.

The Falklands are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina, and most Falkland Islanders are of British descent.

Vowing to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falklands in the wake of Sir Keir’s Mauritius deal, Argentina’s foreign minister Diana Mondino promised “concrete action” to ensure the Malvinas are handed to Buenos Aires.

She said: “The long dispute between Britain and Mauritius came to a conclusion today, with Mauritians successfully regaining their territory of Chagos.

“We welcome this step in the right direction and the end to outdated practices. Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.

“The Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine.”

The UK government said last week it had reached a political agreement with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, following negotiations which began in 2022.

Mauritius will assume sovereignty over the archipelago while the joint US-UK military base remains on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

The Foreign Office said the agreement means the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure.

US president Joe Biden welcomed the “historic” agreement and said it secures the “effective operation of the joint facility into the next century”.

Reaction to the deal was mixed, with some hailing the end to a bitter and long-running dispute over Britain’s last African colony. But others, including Tory leadership candidates, suggested it could undermine UK security.