British sovereignty of Gibraltar and Falklands ‘not up for negotiation’, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman says
British sovereignty of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands is not up for negotiation, the prime minister’s spokesman has said.
Questions over the government’s commitment to maintaining the British overseas territories as part of the UK have been raised after the government announced on Thursday it was handing the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius.
Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said the government was ruling out negotiations over Gibraltar, claimed by Spain, and the Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina.
“There is no question about British sovereignty of those two, it is not up for negotiation,” he said.
Following Thursday’s announcement on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, Argentina’s foreign minister promised “concrete action” to ensure the Falklands were handed to Buenos Aires.
However, Sir Keir’s spokesman said: “The Falklands is not up for discussion – that remains our position.
“Chagos is a unique situation with a unique history, it has no bearing on other territories.”
Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo said the UK’s decision on the Chagos Islands has “no possible read across” to Gibraltar as the situations “are completely different”.
Falkland Islands governor Alison Blake said the UK government’s commitment to the islanders’ UK sovereignty was “unwavering” and “remains undiminished”.
Argentina claims the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic as its own. Pic: PA
The UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest Chagos island, will remain. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir’s spokesman said the former Conservative government had carried out 11 rounds of negotiations over the Chagos Islands since 2022 and the government had picked them up and reached an agreement.
The archipelago between Mauritius and India had been at the centre of a 50-year dispute after Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968 but the Chagos Islands did not.
Mauritius has been trying to claim the Chagos Islands since then but the UK has resisted as it has a key naval support base with the US on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
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Chagossians ‘feel betrayed again’
The native Chagossians were expelled from the islands for the base to be built, with most going to Mauritius or the Seychelles, and about 3,500 coming to the UK since 2002.
Under the new deal, the military base will remain under UK and US jurisdiction for at least the next 99 years.
Senior Conservatives criticised the decision as they fear it could grant China a foothold in the Indian Ocean as Beijing is heavily invested in Mauritius.
But Sir Keir’s spokesman said the deal settles the legal challenges, contested sovereignty and international court tribunals.
A protest was taking place outside parliament today by Chagossians who are angry they were not included in the talks for their homeland’s sovereignty.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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