‘No threat’ to Falklands

There is no evidence of any “current credible military threat” to the security of the Falklands, the Defence Secretary said yesterday.

Philip Hammond said that despite speculation, there had been no recent change to military levels and “no plan for significant changes to force deployments”.

He sought to quell recent heightened tension between Britain and Argentina by stressing that the government had “no desire or intention to increase the heat” around the debate on the islands’ sovereignty.

However, he revealed that plans existed for rapid reinforcement of land, sea and air forces should any threat appear.