The US is said to be considering an ultimatum to Andy Burnham, threatening to withdraw its support for Britain’s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands if it does not increase defence spending.
Pentagon officials are understood to be reviewing Nato allies’ commitment to their 5 per cent defence spending promise, with the UK set to get “special attention”, a senior US official told The Telegraph.
Donald Trump’s administration believes the UK did not go far enough with its defence investment plan in June and is now looking at ways to incentivise the prime minister to invest further.
“I would expect the UK to receive special attention because it has so much potential,” the US official told the publication. “We will therefore continue efforts to incentivise and enable the UK to step up in a major way.”
They said that changing America’s stance on the UK’s claim to the Falklands, which the US president has previously considered, was a possibility.
“I can say that they [conversations] are candid and nothing is being ruled out as far as options for encouraging the sort of burden-sharing that we seek,” the source said.
The UK government has responded by saying its position on the islands is “long-standing and unwavering”, and that they will remain a British Overseas Territory in line with the wishes of the Falkland islanders.
The Treasury confirmed on Friday that chancellor John Healey’s first budget will fail to set out when the UK will meet the target of allocating 3 per cent of GDP on defence.
Mr Healey resigned as defence secretary in June, saying former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had been “unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”.
The official told The Telegraph that the UK’s defence investment plan was a “step in the right direction”, but said “a step in the right direction isn’t enough.
“Given the scale of challenges facing us and our allies, we need allies like the United Kingdom to step up in major, fundamental ways. Fortunately, some already are. We strongly encourage the UK to do likewise.”
America’s recent demand follows a threat in April, in which a leaked internal Pentagon email suggested that the US could review Britain’s claim to the Falklands as revenge for a lack of support in the Iran war.
A shift in the US position on the islands has been considered by the Foreign Office, but has been treated as a “hypothetical scenario”.
The islands are administered by the UK but are still claimed by Argentina, whose president is an ally of Mr Trump.
Downing Street insisted the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands were “not in question” following its earlier threat, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said a potential US policy review was “absolute nonsense” and compared it to Mr Trump’s previous threat to annex Greenland.
Admiral Lord West of Spithead, the commanding officer of HMS Ardent, a frigate that was sunk in the Falklands conflict, previously dismissed the threats, telling The Independent that, militarily, losing US support for British sovereignty would have “no impact”.
“The recognition or otherwise by the US does not make the islands less secure,” the former Royal Navy commander-in-chief added.
The Independent has approached the White House and Downing Street for comment.
A spokesperson for the UK government quoted by Sky News said: “The UK position on the Falkland Islands is long-standing and unwavering: they are and will remain a British Overseas Territory in line with the wishes of the Falkland islanders.
"The UK is playing a central role in NATO and strengthening collective defence across Europe.
"We are NATO's third largest cash spender on defence and the only European NATO member to commit our nuclear deterrent to the alliance."
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