Falklands veteran Simon Weston has hit out at reports the US could review its position on the South Atlantic territory in retaliation for Sir Keir Starmer’s lack of support for the war in Iran, branding it a “cruel joke”.
An internal Pentagon email set out options for Mr Trump’s administration to punish Nato allies for refusing to join the US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
The memo, first reported by Reuters, suggests reassessing US diplomatic support for “imperial possessions” such as the Falklands.
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and invaded them in 1982 before being defeated in a short but bloody war.
Writing for The Independent, Mr Weston – who was injured serving in the conflict during the bombing of the RFA Sir Galahad – described the shifting position of the US as “unnecessary” and “unfair”, warning that Mr Trump’s words could “spark his friends in Argentina” into restarting another similar conflict.
The potential shift in US policy has prompted Argentina to call for talks with the UK over the territory, although Downing Street has insisted the islands’ sovereignty was “not in question”.
Mr Weston wrote: “To have the legacy that the islanders have created, the peace, tranquillity, the success financially and economically, and everything else that goes with it, thrown into turmoil and uncertainty by the words of a man who is the self-proclaimed leader of the free world, it beggars belief. It’s so unnecessary. It’s so unfair.
“It’s got to be classed as a cruel joke. The Falkland islanders are innocent pawns in a political game. Everyone can see that the islands have nothing to do with Mr Trump, and he cannot play the role of schoolyard bully forever.”
He added: “We lost 48 men aboard the Sir Galahad. Most of them I knew. They were my good friends. The attack killed another 10 or so outside of the ship, so over 60 men died that day...
“What was it all for if somebody 44 years later can bring all that back? Everything that, and all my injured colleagues, and all the friends and families of the dead soldiers and airmen, all the Argentinians who needlessly died, the three civilians who died. What was that for?
“Unfortunately, Mr Trump’s words could spark his friends in Argentina into starting something like that again. I despair.”
Mr Weston also told BBC Two’s Newsnight that he hopes the King can convince Mr Trump to “back down” over the Falkland Islands during his state visit next week.
He said: “I would hope that he [the King] would just kind of get him [Mr Trump] to back down and calm down over the Falklands.
“What we don’t need is Mr Milei [Argentine president Javier Milei] to raise his sleeves and believe that aggression may work because that would just cost more lives.”
The veteran added: “The King is an incredible statesman, he’s a great ambassador for this country, he’s somebody that’s world respected and I think he can hopefully smooth some of this over so that we won’t end up in a situation that we find ourselves where, we are allies, allegedly, but this is bringing it to a different point in the relationship.”
Mr Weston’s intervention came after Admiral Lord West of Spithead – the commanding officer of HMS Ardent, a frigate that was sunk in the Falklands conflict – told The Independent the reports were an “insult to the autonomous, self-reliant and free people of the Falkland Islands”.
The row is the latest sign of the strains in the increasingly fractious US-UK relationship in the wake of the Iran war.
But this week, the US president said he thinks next week’s state visit from King Charles and Queen Camilla could “absolutely” repair relations with the UK, amid a growing rift with Sir Keir Starmer.
Asked about reports of a possible shift in US position on the Falkland Islands on Friday, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “The Falkland Islands have hugely voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory, and we’ve always stood behind the islanders’ right to self-determination and the fact that sovereignty rests with the UK.”
The spokesperson, asked if Britain was ready to defend the islands from any threats, replied: “The question of the Falkland Islands and the UK’s sovereignty and the islanders’ right to self-determination is not in question, and we’ve expressed that position clearly and consistently.”
Pressed further as to whether the UK could defend the Falklands, they described the question as a “hypothetical”, adding: “That is not the situation we are in.”
Meanwhile, the Falkland Islands government said it had “complete confidence in the commitment made by the UK government to uphold and defend our right of self-determination”.
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