UK politicians have slammed Washington’s suggestion of reviewing Britain’s claim to the Falkland islands, with Downing Street saying the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands ‘rests with the UK’.
The Pentagon is exploring ways for the US to punish NATO countries for failing to support the Iran war, including reviewing the UK’s claim to the territory and suspending Spain from the alliance.
Following the threat, a Downing Street spokesman said the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands ‘rests with the UK’.
Asked about the report, the spokesman said: ‘The Falkland Islands have hugely voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory, and we’ve always stood behind the islanders’ right to self-determination and the fact that sovereignty rests with the UK.’
The spokesman continued: ‘We’ve expressed this position previously clearly and consistently to successive US administrations and nothing is going to change that.’
Asked if Starmer thought this was an attempt by the US to put pressure on him to join the Iran war, his spokesperson said: ‘He has spoken about that and he has also spoken about how that pressure does not affect him, and he will always act in the national interest, and that will always remain the case.’
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch meanwhile said there is no need to take Trump’s threat seriously, calling it ‘absolute nonsense.’
The Conservative Party leader told reporters on Friday: ‘The Falkland Islands are British. They have been for a very long time. The sovereignty is British sovereignty.’
A Downing Street spokesman said the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands ‘rests with the UK’
The Pentagon is exploring ways for the US to punish NATO countries for failing to support the Iran war, including reviewing the UK’s claim to the territory
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey added that the plan was ‘outrageous’ saying: ‘This is crazy. Yesterday, President Trump was saying that the [upcoming] state visit by the King would improve relations.
‘Today he’s threatened tariffs on the UK. And now we have this leaked memo saying he’s threatening British sovereignty in the Falklands.
‘It is absolutely outrageous. The only people who think this state visit should go ahead are Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage.
‘It’s totally embarrassing and I think it should be pulled. He can’t keep insulting our country.’
Meanwhile, when asked whether the latest transatlantic row could overshadow Charles’s visit next week, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘We are absolutely confident the state visit will showcase the very best of the UK-US bilateral relationship, from security to our economic ties, and our people to people relationships.’
The spokesman was then asked if the visit could help to repair the strained relations, and replied: ‘As I say, I think it will showcase the very best of the UK-US relationship, but it will underline that this relationship is a deep relationship that goes back decades, and it is one that is forged in history, our people to people ties, as well as our economic, and security and defence relationship.’
Other politicians took to social media to reaffirm the islands’ British status, with Labour MP for York Outer Luke Charters sharing his support alongside photos of himself on the territory.
Conservative MP for Huntingdon Ben Obese-Jecty wrote: ‘The US State Department position on the Falklands is already: ‘We recognize de facto United Kingdom administration of the islands but take no position regarding sovereignty.’
‘What exactly are they planning to review, recognising Argentina’s claim? It was only three weeks ago that Javier Milei, a Trump ally, reasserted Argentina’s claim on the ‘Malvinas’.
‘The implication here is that the US are prepared to entertain this view.’
And Labour for Newcastle-under-Lyme added: ‘The Falklands are [British] and we don’t need others to tell us that.’
The policy options are detailed in an email expressing frustration at some allies’ perceived reluctance or refusal to grant Washington access, basing and overflight (ABO) rights for the Iran war, a US official told Reuters.
The memo also includes an option to consider reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European ‘imperial possessions,’ such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.
The State Department’s website states that the islands are administered by the United Kingdom but are still claimed by Argentina, whose Libertarian President Javier Milei is a Trump ally.
Britain and Argentina fought in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly insulted Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling him cowardly because of his unwillingness to join the US war with Iran, saying he was ‘No Winston Churchill’ and describing Britain’s aircraft carriers as ‘toys’.
Britain initially did not grant a request from the US to allow its aircraft to attack Iran from two British bases, but later agreed to allow defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens, amid Iranian retaliation.
Reacting to the US threat, Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois said: ‘Because of his strong personal bond with Mrs Thatcher, President Reagan ultimately backed Britain during the 1982 Falklands War.
‘The fact the Americans could now even be contemplating something like this, shows just how far their relations have deteriorated with Starmer’s hapless, failing government.
‘When the US invoked Article 5 of the NATO Treaty immediately after 9/11 – the only time it’s ever been done – Britain was one of the first countries to respond, with support from our special forces, hunting Islamist terrorists in the caves of Tora Bora.
Labour MP for York Outer Luke Charters shared his support alongside photos of himself on the territory
Conservative Member of Parliament for Huntingdon Ben Obese-Jecty wrote: ‘The implication here is that the US are prepared to entertain this view.’
‘I was at a conference in Washington DC yesterday, where I politely reminded our American cousins of that very point.’
Another option in the email envisions suspending ‘difficult’ countries from important or prestigious positions at NATO, the US official said.
The US President has harshly criticised NATO allies for not sending naval forces to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping following the start of the war on February 28.
He has also declared he is considering withdrawing from the alliance.
‘Wouldn’t you if you were me?’, Mr Trump asked Reuters in an April 1 interview, in response to a question about whether the US pulling out of NATO was a possibility.
But the email does not suggest that the United States do so, the official said. It also does not propose closing bases in Europe.
The official declined to say whether the options included a widely expected US withdrawal of some forces from Europe, however.
Asked for comment on the email, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded: ‘As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us.
‘The War Department will ensure that the President has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect,’ Wilson said.
The US-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of the 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that the US might not come to the aid of European allies should they be attacked, analysts and diplomats say.
Britain, France and others say that joining the US naval blockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the Strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.
But Trump administration officials have stressed that NATO cannot be a one-way street.
They have expressed frustration with Spain, where the Socialist leadership said it would not allow its bases or airspace to be used to attack Iran. The United States has two important military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base.
The policy options outlined in the email would be intended to send a strong signal to NATO allies with the goal of ‘decreasing the sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans,’ the official said, summarising the email.
The option to suspend Spain from the alliance would have a limited effect on US military operations but a significant symbolic impact, the email argues.
The official did not disclose how the United States might pursue suspending Spain from the alliance.
Addressing reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said ‘a lot has been laid bare’ by the war with Iran, noting that Iran’s longer-range missiles cannot hit the United States but can reach Europe.
‘We get questions, or roadblocks, or hesitations… You don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,’ Hegseth said.
Royal Marine Peter Robinson carrying the Union Jack as he marched towards Stanley in the final hours of the Falklands War in June 1982
Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said that the war aims to prevent Iran from causing a ‘nuclear holocaust’ in major European cities such as London.
The US President said: ‘I think that there’s nothing worse than a nuclear weapon that takes out one of your cities or two of your cities or three.
‘I think there’s nothing worse than a nuclear weapon that’s going to destroy the Middle East, including Israel. I think there’s nothing worse than Europe being under attack by people that have missiles now that reach Europe.’
On Iranian missile capabilities, Mr Trump continued: ‘As you know, they don’t reach us, but they reach Europe. But they will reach us at some time, probably the not-too-distant future, unless we stop them now.
‘I think there would be nothing worse than having a nuclear Holocaust in Europe. London, Paris, various places in Germany, all targeted. What I say is you can’t let them have [a nuclear weapon].’
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has expressed doubt over whether the US would be ‘loyal’ to its NATO commitment to defend Europe in the event of a Russian attack, and called on the EU to become a ‘real alliance’ in protecting the continent.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Tusk said Europe’s ‘biggest, most important question is if the United States is ready to be as loyal as it is described in our [NATO] treaties’.
‘This is something really serious. I’m talking about short-term perspectives, rather months than years,’ he said, in reference to the future possibility of Russian aggression.
Poland is the biggest spender in the Western alliance by GDP, already meeting NATO’s 5 per cent target.
‘For the whole eastern flank, my neighbours… the question is if NATO is still an organisation ready, politically and also logistically, to react, for example against Russia if they try to attack,’ he said.
Tusk added that some countries in the US-led defence alliance ‘pretend[ed] that nothing happened’ when about 20 Russian drones violated Poland’s airspace last September.
He stressed that his comments should not be treated ‘as scepticism towards Article 5 [NATO’s mutual defence pledge], if it is valid or not, but rather as my dreams that guarantees on paper will change into something very practical’.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
