Voters under the age of 25 by and large don’t care about the Falklands remaining British, according to new research, as Keir Starmer faces a diplomatic crisis over the islands
Young Brits are not bothered about the Falkland Islands remaining British, according to a new survey. It comes after last week, a leaked White House memo claimed that the US could pull its support for Britain’s claim to the territory as punishment for the UK’s failure to back the Iran war.
The leak triggered a diplomatic crisis and prompted Argentina to renew its claim to the islands, which were fought over in a 10-week battle in 1982.
It has been condemned by islanders and Sir Keir Starmer, whose spokesman said he could “not be clearer” that the islands were a sovereign British Overseas Territory.
More in Common’s poll found that voters under the age of 25 were less likely to consider it very or quite important that the UK retained sovereignty over the islands than older people.
Only nine per cent of 18-to-24-year-olds felt it was “very important” the Falklands remained British, significantly down from the 29 per cent of all Britons who said it was very important.
A further 19 per cent of 18-to-24-yearolds said it was “quite important” that the islands did not change ownership, compared to 22 per cent of all voters.
But 48 per cent of voters aged 75 or older and 42 per cent of 65-to-74-year-olds said the Falklands staying British was very important.
The polling also found that more than half of the public (56 per cent) would back the military being deployed if Argentina were to invade the Falklands.
This idea had majority support among supporters of the Conservatives (66 per cent), Labour (64 per cent) and Reform UK (73 per cent).
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, later dismissed the Falklands row as “just an email”, while James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, said the sovereignty of the Falklands was “not up for negotiation”.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The Government’s commitment to protecting the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is unshakeable.
“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.”