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”.
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.
Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.
Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.
Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.
Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.
“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”
Russia did not comment on the attack.
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It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.
While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.
Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.
In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.
He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.
He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”
He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.
“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.
“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”
In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.
He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”
Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.
The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.
The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been found, Israel has said.
Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE,went missing on Thursday.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office on Sunday said the 28-year-old rabbi was murdered, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident”.
“The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death,” it said.
The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that Mr Kogan had been found dead. Its interior ministry has described the rabbi as being “missing and out of contact”.
“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the interior ministry said.
Mr Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters.
The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.
Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement and remain in secure areas.
The rabbi’s disappearance comes as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October.
While the Israeli statement on Mr Kogan did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE.
The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners have been set up for the burgeoning Jewish community but the unrest in the Middle East has sparked deep anger in the country.