Andy Burnham spoke with Donald Trump about the islands, and warned that Argentinian interference could hit both the US and Great Britain in the pocket unless action is taken
Andy Burnham has dragged Donald Trump into the bitter row over the Falkland Islands and warns that Argentina’s latest antics could hit Britain and America in the pocket.
The PM spoke on the phone with the US President on Friday on a number of topics, including Argentina’s recent behaviour regarding the British territory.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “Turning to the Falklands Islands, the leaders discussed the Sea Lion project.The Prime Minister raised the economic consequences of Argentina’s coercive measures for the UK and US and reiterated the importance of respecting the Islanders’ right to develop their natural resources.”
The latest spat between the UK and Argentina all centres around the controversial Sea Lion oil project, which could see huge amounts of oil pumped out of waters surrounding the islands.
But Argentina, which has spent decades insisting the Falklands belong to them, are trying to stop the plans altogether, and have made a series of cryptic threats regarding the islands in general.
In response, Burnham has already promised to take the “firmest of action” to defend the islands, telling MPs that Britain won’t be backing down any time soon.
He said: “We will take the firmest of action to support the Falkland Islands, the right of the islanders to self-determination, who chose to remain British not so long ago.”
The Falklands have been a serious sore point between Britain and Argentina for years, with the two countries famously going to war over the territory in 1982.
Britain emerged victorious in a 74 day conflict that saw 904 people lose their lives, although Argentina has never dropped its claim, despite islanders voting overwhelmingly to stay British in 2013.
It is not known exactly what Trump made of Burnham’s complaints, as Downing Street is currently remaining quiet about the President’s response to the issues.
And it wasn’t all Falklands chat, with the pair also finding time to discuss Russia ’s bloody invasion of Ukraine. According to a Government spokesperson,
Burnham used the call to urge Trump to make sure Ukraine can keep using Elon Musk’s Starlink internet system to help defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The high-tech connections system has been used to power Ukraine’s massive arsenal of drones key to their defence against Russia, although recent losses of signal have been connected to a recent spat between the President and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenksky.
While it has been claimed that the internet system had been restored, Ukraine are still reporting that the service is not fully back on line.