𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Donald Trump risks triggering a “bloodbath” if Argentina is encouraged to attack the Falkland Islands and “sensible people” in the United States should impeach the US President, according to a former head of the British Army. Lord Dannatt, who was Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009, expressed outrage after an internal Pentagon email reportedly suggested the US could review its position on Britain’s claim to the Falklands. It also mooted suspending Spain from Nato as part of a package of measures to punish allies for failing to support the United States’s attacks on Iran.

Argentina has called for talks over the future of the Falklands, with foreign minister Pablo Quirno demanding an end to “colonialism”. The Pentagon has said it will “ensure that the president has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part”.

The 1982 Falklands War claimed the lives of 255 British personnel, and politicians across the party divide have insisted that the sovereignty of the territory is not up for debate.

Lord Dannatt, 75, said: “It is quite outrageous that Donald Trump thinks he can punish the UK by opening up the Falklands sovereignty issue. His encouragement of Argentina to open up discussions again is very dangerous. Unlike 1982, when the Falklands were defended by a small group of Royal Marines, today it is defended by fast jets from a well-found RAF airfield with a garrison of soldiers, including air defence. To encourage the Argentinians to attack again would be inviting a bloodbath. Trump should think about the consequences of his words before he opens his mouth. When will sensible people in the US start an impeachment process?”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel urged Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer to stand firm and not to attempt a repeat of the now-derailed deal to transfer sovereignty to the Chagos Islands and lease back a military base.

She said: “Keir Starmer must make it beyond clear that the Falklands are, and will always remain, British. Time and again, he has failed to stand up for our national interests and attempted to cede our sovereignty over the Chagos Islands. We can have no repeat of this shameful affair. The Conservatives are clear, we will always defend British sovereignty and the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future.”

Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock – who took the reins of the party in 1983, in the aftermath of the previous year’s Falklands War – is confident Britain will not bow to pressure.

He told the Sunday Express: “We have a convincing military presence there and the Falklanders are of one mind. Everyone, including Argentina and thoughtful people in Washington, knows that the Falklands will remain British. The Labour Government is obviously very staunch under international pressure. That will endure too.”

Alicia Kearns, a former Conservative chair of the Foreign Affairs select committee, said: “It is not for Trump’s Pentagon, Buenos Aires, or a weak-willed Downing Street to reopen a question the Falkland Islanders themselves have already answered. The leaked memo is outrageous, and Argentina’s predictable rush to exploit it tells us everything about why strength, not appeasement, is the only language that works. Our Overseas Territories are strategic assets, sitting at chokepoints, projecting British power across the globe. Treat them as afterthoughts, and adversaries will treat them as targets. We were lucky in 1982 that we still had the capability to act. We cannot afford to test that luck again.”

Former Defence Secretary Sir Liam Fox urged calm, saying: “The sovereignty of the Falklands is settled. The self-determination of the islanders is paramount and non- negotiable.

“We should not be rattled by an email generated in the Pentagon, which is not the policy of the United States.”

Fellow former Defence Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson said the islands “will always be British” but added: “The only things that worry me are Starmer; as he is so weak and desperate to please foreign nations, he may not have the strength to stand up for what is ours.”

Sir Andrew Mitchell, who served as deputy foreign secretary, also stressed the strength of UK defences, saying: “The Falkland Islands are properly defended as I saw for myself on my visit last year. The matter of sovereignty has been settled by the Falkland islanders themselves and there is nothing to reopen “

Alan Mendoza of the Henry Jackson Society foreign policy think tank said: “They are British by virtue of the wishes of the population, as well as the fact of possession. There is therefore nothing to negotiate and the government must make this clear to Argentina.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has insisted Britain’s commitment to the territory is “unwavering”.