Ed Miliband sets up new confrontation with Argentina as he ‘signs off new Falklands oil field’ in the South Atlantic

DAILYMAIL.COM • 3h ago

By DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR 14:10 13 Oct 2026, updated 16:05 13 Oct 2026

Ed Miliband has approved drilling in a new oil field off the Falkland Islands in the face of anger in Argentina.

Ministers are set to tell MPs today that the Foreign Secretary has given the go-ahead for the Sea Lion project in the South Atlantic that is at the centre of a new spat with Buenos Aires.

Argentina this month began sanctions proceedings against more than 60 firms linked to the project, a move the UK said was ‘unacceptable’.

Argentina’s erratic president Javier Milei, a hard-Right ally of Donald Trump, reiterated his country’s claim to the Falklands in a nationally televised address, saying the islands ‘are our future’.

He has vowed to block Sea Lion, which could triple the GDP of the island archipelago.

A Government minister today warned the UK will not ‘stand by’ while Argentina uses ‘economic coercion’ against the people of the Falklands.

Setting out the UK’s response to ‘aggressive’ Argentinian threats, Foreign Office Minister Uma Kumaran pledged further ‘robust’ measures if the situation persists, insisting she will do ‘whatever it takes’ to support islanders.

Ms Kumaran attacked Mr Milei’s ‘inflammatory remarks’ and the ‘increasingly aggressive public statements’ of Pablo Quirno, the Argentine foreign minister.

Argentina’s government said this afternoon that it had lodged a case with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to prevent the United Kingdom from exploiting hydrocarbon resources.

The filing ‘seeks to preserve Argentina’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf and prevent activities authorised unilaterally and illegally by the United Kingdom’, the Argentine government added.

The Tories welcomed the decision but questioned why Mr Miliband backed drilling in the South Atlantic and not closer to home.

Shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie said: ‘The utter hypocrisy of Ed Miliband knows no end.

‘Yes, this is a very welcome decision but it does beg the question, why does Labour think drilling for oil and gas off the Falkland Islands is okay but not in our North Sea?

‘Labour have no excuse for not backing Jackdaw and Rosebank.’

Tensions between Argentina and the UK over the British territory have escalated in recent months.

In September Mr Milei’s government presented legislation to crack down on companies drilling for oil off the Islands.

The government’s proposal would toughen penalties on companies and individuals who participate in activities linked to natural resources in the Falklands, and in Argentina’s maritime spaces without authorization from Argentine authorities.

The new bill, which has yet to be approved by Congress, aims to revamp 2011 legislation with a tougher framework.

Oil companies Navitas Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration, owners of the Sea Lion project, have previously indicated they do not expect Argentina’s actions to derail development.

The British government said it would stand firm in the face of any threats and has defended the rights of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination.

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