Britain responds to Argentina regarding the Falkland Islands: Our commitment to them is "absolute and unshakable"

British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting affirmed that London’s commitment to the Falkland Islands is “absolute and unshakeable,” following renewed calls by Argentine President Javier Milei for his country’s sovereignty over the islands. Britain and Argentina fought a ten-week war in 1982 over the islands, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, which Argentina refers to as “Las Malvinas.”

Following a televised address by Milei in which he claimed that the “winds of change” were blowing in favor of Argentina’s claim to the islands, Streeting posted on social media that the “Falkland Islands are British because their inhabitants chose to be British.” He added, “Our commitment to the Falkland Islands is absolute and unshakeable,” noting that Milei’s remarks, amid declining popularity, were the result of “internal political disputes.”

For her part, British Education Secretary Lucy Powell told Sky News: “We are very clear that the Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory.” She added, “They are a British overseas territory, and we will defend the right of the Falkland Islands’ inhabitants to self-determination and to choose their own future.”

In a separate development, two senior figures from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party resigned after the police received a report concerning the party amid new allegations of breaching donation rules. The party announced the resignations of Dan Joaxes, Farage’s veteran aide, and James Orr, the policy director, adding that it had launched an investigation into allegations revealed by an undercover investigative report broadcast by Channel 4.

Hours before Farage delivered his speech at the annual conference of Reform UK, Channel 4 aired an investigation revealing that party officials had violated political donation regulations. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said it was “aware of media reports regarding political party donations and alleged breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 concerning elections.”

The ruling Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats stated they had reported Reform UK to the police following the investigation, which the anti-immigration party had initially rejected and dismissed as a “hoax.”