Thursday, September 10th 2026 - 00:26 UTC
“We will always respect the rights of the Falkland Islanders to choose to be British,” Burnham said during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the House of Commons on Wednesday that his government would be “relentless” in defending the right of Falkland Islanders to choose to be British, in a session dominated by defense spending and the sovereignty of overseas territories.
“We will always respect the rights of the Falkland Islanders to choose to be British,” Burnham said during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions, adding that the position “will never” change under his government. He did not mention Javier Milei or Argentina at any point in his remarks, and referred to the islands only once in a session lasting more than an hour.
His comments came in response to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who accused the Labour government of weakness on defense and sovereignty. Badenoch challenged the deal to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and then lease back the Diego Garcia base, which she put at £35 billion, and argued that Argentina had taken note of that decision and felt encouraged to press its claim. “They smell weakness,” she said, describing the Indian Ocean archipelago as British sovereign territory.
