Boris Johnson fears Keir Starmer could give up the Falkland Islands next

Boris Johnson has warned he is “genuinely anxious” Sir Keir Starmer will hand the Falklands to Argentina after his disastrous decision to hand over the Chagos Islands.

The Prime Minister signed over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to an ally of China – Mauritius.

And critics warned the move will increase fears the UK Government could do the same with the Falklands.

Mr Johnson said: “What do they think, in Beijing, when they see Starmer pointlessly surrendering the Chagos Islands? They are laughing their pants off. Would they do the same? Not on your nelly. They are acquiring new bases around the world – not limp-wristedly handing over their rightful possessions.

“For the first time in decades I am now genuinely anxious about Britain overseas, from Gibraltar to the Falkland Islands.

“This is what happens when you are governed not by Blairites – as they pretended to be at the election – but by Leftie ideologues, people who secretly or openly hate such vital concepts as US hegemony, ‘Western values’, Nato and an independent British nuclear deterrent.”

The Chagos Islands are home to the Diego Garcia military base, which is leased by the UK to the United States to support military operations in the Middle East.

While the deal to hand back sovereignty included provisions for the UK and US to continue using Diego Garcia for 99 years, fears are intensifying Chinese intelligence agencies could exploit Beijing’s relationship with the Mauritians to use the surrounding islands to monitor the base and British and American assets.

And Mr Johnson added: “It means that the clock is now ticking for Diego Garcia, the giant air base that has been of such huge strategic value to both the US and the UK. We have agreed to give it up in 99 years – the twinkling of an eye, if you think like Beijing.

“Worse still, it means that all the other islands in the Chagos archipelago are now available to be military bases for – you guessed it – the Chinese.”

Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, has promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands are handed to Buenos Aires.

In an intervention that will fuel rising Tory criticism of the UK-Mauritius agreement and its perceived implications for other overseas territories, Ms Mondino said: “The long dispute between Britain and Mauritius came to a conclusion today, with Mauritians successfully regaining their territory of Chagos.

“We welcome this step in the right direction and the end to outdated practices. Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.

“The Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine.”

In a statement earlier on Thursday, Falklands governor Alison Blake sought to reassure residents that Britain’s commitment to the South Atlantic territory was “unwavering”.

But Former Armed Forces minister Mark Francois said the deal is a “strategic disaster” for the UK and our US allies, telling said: “Not only does it threaten an eventual Chinese veto over the future of the key base on Diego Garcia, it will only embolden nations like Argentina to press for control of the Falklands.

“It’s absolute madness.”

Former minister Sir Simon Clarke added: “This decision not only compromises a vital base that is of huge value to our American allies, it also strikes at the heart of our ability to defend our continued control of other sovereign bases from Gibraltar to Cyprus, and indeed the legitimacy of our overseas territories like the Falklands.”

And Tory MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the decision to hand back the archipelago is “completely wrong”, adding: “It will cause great unease in our people in our overseas territories including Falklands and Gibraltar.

“We will all regret this if the Mauritians do a deal with China which would threaten our hugely strategic base in the British Ocean Territory as it is known.”