Farage would use military to ‘crush’ Argentina in any Falklands dispute, senior ally says

BIRMINGHAM, England — Nigel Farage would use Britain’s armed forces to “crush” Argentina in defense of the Falkland Islands, a senior figure in his right-wing Reform UK party said Saturday. Robert Jenrick, Farage’s finance spokesperson, said the party leader would use “every lever of the British state” against Buenos Aires if he were prime minister, including economic sanctions or military force, if a conflict erupted over the British overseas territory in the South Atlantic. The U.K. retained its control of the Falklands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas, in a bitter and bloody 74-day war in 1982 after Argentina invaded the territory.

A referendum among its inhabitants in 2013 saw 1,513 out of 1,517 vote to remain part of a British overseas territory. President Donald Trump suggested he was reconsidering Washington’s support for Britain’s sovereignty over the islands. Days later, on Friday, right-wing Argentinian President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, escalated the rhetoric over his country’s enduring claim to the islands, pledging to levy sanctions against companies drilling for oil nearby without approval from Buenos Aires.

Britain’s center-left Labour government immediately rejected Milei’s threat. A Downing Street spokesperson said the islanders have a right to self-determination and that the U.K. supports their right “to develop their natural resources for their own economic benefit.” Jenrick told journalists at the Reform UK conference in Birmingham: “If Nigel Farage was our prime minister, Milei would not be doing what he’s doing. This is happening because Milei is weak, and he senses that we have a weak government too.” He added: “If Nigel Farage was our prime minister, we would use every lever of the British state — our armed forces, our economic sanctions, everything — to defend the Falklands, and we would crush Argentina.” Reform UK’s decision to turn on Milei over the issue contrasts with Farage’s previous praise for the Argentinian leader for his right-wing, small state ideology.

In 2024, Farage described Milei’s agenda as “amazing,” “incredible” and “like Thatcherism on steroids,” adding: “I’m beginning to think about buying Argentinian bonds.”