british media: after giving up sovereignty over the chagos islands, the uk is worried about two other "overseas territories"
2024-10-05
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reference news network reported on october 5according to a report on the british "daily telegraph" website on october 3, british prime minister starmer gave up sovereignty over the chagos islands, triggering concerns about gibraltar and the falkland islands (called the malvinas islands in argentina - note from this newspaper ) worries about the future.
according to reports, starmer's decision to authorize the transfer of the islands to mauritius was condemned by the opposition as "extremely disgraceful".
the move, which comes just three months after labor came to power, has reportedly raised concerns within the uk about starmer's attitude towards other british overseas territories, including by two former defense secretaries.
grant shapps said: "starmer's decision to abandon british indian ocean territory proves that he cannot be trusted to protect british interests. we are lucky that when argentina invaded the falkland islands, starmer was not in power, otherwise he will hand over the falkland islands." penny mordaunt also said that this decision "seriously harms british interests."
tugendhat, a candidate for the leadership of the conservative party, also raised concerns. he wrote in the daily telegraph: "will things end with the handing over of the chagos islands? ... argentina has long tried to seize the falklands from us; and gibraltar is a key part of our relationship with spain an unhealed wound.”
a source who has been involved in negotiations in the conservative government said: "negotiations for gibraltar are still ongoing. if they do the same, this model will mean spain has joint sovereignty over gibraltar airport, which will be a disaster. and this idea of admitting mistakes or putting an end to past mistakes is essentially argentina’s position on the falkland islands.”
the governments of gibraltar and the falkland islands have both issued statements insisting they were not concerned about the decision because their own people had voted overwhelmingly to remain in the uk.
a spokesman for the foreign office said: "the situation is not comparable. this is a unique agreement that is completely unrelated to the uk government's wider policy on our other overseas territories. it is a very different issue with a very different history. we remain dedicated to our overseas territory family.” (compiled by feng kang)
