UK PM Keir Starmer insists Malvinas ‘are British and will remain British’

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared Wednesday that the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands “are British and will remain British,” as he insisted the sovereignty dispute over the archipelago is a “personal” matter for him.

The remarks, delivered during a session of Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, came as Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey questioned Starmer over red tape for fishermen in the region and the use of flags on vessels.

It also comes a week after Starmer’s government agreed to hand over sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a move that prompted concern among some UK lawmakers about the future of British overseas territories.

Argentina reacted quickly to that, insisting it would regain sovereignty over the disputed British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean.

On Wednesday, before Parliament, Starmer reiterated that the Malvinas Islands, as they are known in Argentina, "are British and they will remain British.”

"I've been very clear about the Falklands, it's personal to me,” the Labour leader told MPs.

Starmer revealed last year that his uncle served on a British warship that was torpedoed during the 1982 conflict with Argentina and luckily survived the attack.

It is the second time this week his government has made a public statement about the islands, over which Argentina launched a brief war in 1982. 

Earlier this week, the UK PM’s spokesperson insisted that the sovereignty of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, as well as Gibraltar, were "not up for negotiation," despite the Chagos Islands handover.

Argentina's Foreign Minister Diana Mondino said earlier this month that Argentina would "recover full sovereignty" over the Malvinas.

"We celebrate this step in the right direction," Mondino said in a post on Instagram, hailing the Chagos move as a "milestone" that could assist Argentina’s diplomatic push.

"Travelling the path we have begun, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we are going to recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands," she added.

But when asked about Mondino's comments, Starmer's official spokesperson told reporters that the return of the Chagos would have "no bearing" on other overseas territories.

The spokesman said the deal with Mauritius should not be seen as a precedent for other disputes because Chagos was "a unique situation with a unique history, it has no bearing on other territories."

"There is no question about British sovereignty of those two, it is not up for negotiation," he said, referring to the Malvinas and Gibraltar, a small British enclave in Spain.

"The Falklands is not up for discussion – that remains our position," said the spokesperson.

The UK government has been under pressure for decades to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, including from the International Court of Justice.

But it had resisted because of the military base on Diego García island, which plays a key role for US operations in the Indian Ocean and Gulf.

The deal comes after nearly two years of negotiations and marks a significant turnaround after decades of British dismissals of Mauritian sovereignty claims. 

At the start of talks in 2023, the two sides agreed that the military base would continue to operate whatever the outcome. In 2016, the UK extended the US lease of the military base until 2036.

The treaty could also pave the way for the return of Chagos islanders, who were expelled by the UK in the 1970s as the military base was developed.

But with no permanent population – and with Diego García possibly the only habitable island but remaining off-limits as part of the deal – resettlement looks unlikely.

The Malvinas/Falkland Islands, home to just over 3,000 people, lie nearly 13,000 kilometres (8,000 miles) from London and some 480 kilometres from the coast of Argentina.

Britain sent a military task force to reclaim the islands in 1982 after Argentine troops invaded and claimed sovereignty.

– TIMES/AFP