Downing Street has responded by insisting the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands “isn’t going to change”. Asked about the reports, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The UK position is clear and isn’t going to change… It’s a long standing one. It’s an unchanged one, and it will remain the case.” He earlier 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.” Asked if the Government was worried by the risk of the US changing its position on the Falklands, the spokesman said: “No, and as I say, we’ve expressed this position previously, clearly and consistently to successive US administrations, and nothing is going to change that.”
An internal Pentagon email set out options for Donald Trump’s administration to punish Nato allies for refusing to join the US-Israeli strikes against Iran. The memo, first reported by Reuters, suggested reassessing US diplomatic support for “imperial possessions” such as the Falklands. The Foreign Office, however, is treating the potential shift in the US position as a “hypothetical scenario”.
The row is the latest sign of the strains in the US-UK relationship as the King and Queen prepare for their state visit on Monday. The No 10 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.”
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and invaded them in 1982 before being defeated in a short but bloody war. The US president is an ally of Argentina’s president Javier Milei and Mr Trump’s relationship with Sir Keir has deteriorated dramatically since the start of the Iran crisis.
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