Keeping the Falkland Islands British just isn’t crucial, under-25s say – days after leaked White House memo threatened to ‘overview’ UK declare

Only one in ten young people think it’s ‘very important’ for the Falkland Islands to remain British, a new poll has shown. 

Voters under 25 were less likely than older people to consider it necessary for the UK to retain sovereignty over islands, the survey by More in Common found. 

The revelation comes just days after the US threatened to ‘review’ Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands as punishment for failing to support the Iran war. 

The threat, which was circulated after an email, apparently drafted by a junior advisor, was leaked, triggered a diplomatic crisis on the eve of the King’s visit to Washington. 

Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, was immediately upbeat about the proposals.    

‘We are doing everything humanly possible so that the Argentine Malvinas, the islands, the entire territory return to the hands of Argentina,’ Milei said in a radio interview ​he posted on his X account.

‘We’re making progress like never before.’

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman responded, saying the Prime Minister could ‘not be clearer’ that the Falkland Islands were a sovereign British Overseas Territory.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later waded in on the row, dismissing it as ‘just an email’ and saying the response was overblown. 

In the poll, which surveyed 2,041 British adults, only nine per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds felt it was ‘very important’ that the Falklands remained British. 

This was in comparison to 29 per cent of all Britons who responded with the same rating. 

Meanwhile, just 19 per cent of under 25s said it was ‘quite important’ that the Falklands remain under UK ownership, compared to 22 per cent of all voters.

The survey by More in Common also found that 56 per cent of the British public would be in favour of military action if Argentina tried to seize the islands. 

Senior defence figures have criticised those who see the future of the Falklands as up for negotiation. 

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge told The Telegraph: ‘Obviously, we all hope that a situation in which we have to fight to retake the Falklands never arises.

‘But in a world with growing threats on all fronts, this underlines why Labour needs to go to 3 per cent on defence this Parliament and fully invest in our Armed Forces.’

 A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘The Government’s commitment to protecting the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is unshakeable.

‘Our defence posture in the South Atlantic is robust, consisting of air, land, and maritime forces with a strong permanent presence on the Falklands, including RAF Typhoon fighter jets.

‘We are fully confident that our current military presence is at the appropriate level to ensure the defence of the islands, and we keep this under constant review.’

The Falklands – a British Overseas Territory located in the south-west Atlantic Ocean – remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina.

Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid ​to take them. 

The conflict claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel. 

On the 43rd anniversary of the war on April 2 last year, President Milei said he wanted to turn Argentina into a powerful nation so people in the Falklands chose the struggling South American country over Britain.

He said, calling the islands the Malvinas: ‘When it comes to sovereignty over the Malvinas, we make it clear that the most important vote of all is the one made with feet, and we hope that the Malvinas people will one day decide to vote with their feet for us.

‘That is why we seek to be a power, to such an extent that they prefer to be Argentinian, so that we do not need to use deterrence or persuasion to achieve it.’

A year earlier, he publicly accepted the Falkland Islands were currently ‘in the hands of the UK’ and vowed to get them back through diplomatic channels, but admitted there was no ‘instant solution.’

He made his admission after promising a ‘roadmap’ for the islands to become Argentine.

In the past, Mr Milei has praised Margaret Thatcher, who was Britain’s PM during the conflict.