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.
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Politics
University tuition fee rise branded ‘morally wrong’ – as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defends increase
The education secretary has said no decision has been made on whether university tuition fees will increase with inflation each year.
Bridget Phillipson has announced the maximum cap on tuition fees in England will go up in line with inflation from April 2025.
The cost of tuition will increase by £285 to £9,535 next year – the first rise in eight years.
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There will also be a rise in maximum maintenance loans to increase in line with inflation, giving an increase of £414 a year to help students with living costs.
However, the education secretary did not say if the rise would continue after that.
Speaking to Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, Ms Phillipson admitted she did not know what would happen with tuition fees after April 2026.
“We’re going to look at this and the maintenance support and the sector overall as part of the reform that we intend to set out in the months to come,” she said.
“So no decision, no decision has been taken on what happens beyond this.”
She said the government will be looking at “what is required… to get our universities on a more sustainable footing… but also to deliver a better deal for students as a part of that”.
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University tuition fees to increase
The minister said she also “intends to look at” uprating the threshold at which students need to start paying tuition fees back in line with inflation.
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said the tuition fee rise was “economically and morally wrong”.
She said: “Taking more money from debt-ridden students and handing it to overpaid underperforming vice-chancellors is ill conceived and won’t come close to addressing the sector’s core issues.”
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The National Union of Students (NUS) said students were being asked to “foot the bill” to keep the lights and heating on in their universities and to prevent their courses from closing down amid the “crisis”.
Alex Stanley, vice president for higher education of the NUS, said: “This is, and can only ever be, a sticking plaster.
“Universities cannot continue to be funded by an ever-increasing burden of debt on students.”
Universities have been making up for fees being frozen since 2017/18 by taking in international students who pay more.
However, student visa numbers have fallen after the previous government made it more difficult for them to come to the UK recently, so universities can no longer rely on the fees.
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