Fury as Jeremy Corbyn says he wants a deal with Argentina over Falkland Islands

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that the UK should look for "accommodation" with Argentina over the disputed Falkland Islands. The UK fought a 74-day war with the South American nation in 1982 which led to the death of 255 British serviceman and 649 Argentine military personnel.

The member for Islington North did qualify his statement by suggesting that resident islanders living in the South Atlantic should have an "enormous say" over their future. The leftist leader also affirmed his belief that a dispute between the UK and Argentina was "ridiculous".

Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner led fresh calls for negotiations for the islands, which are called Las Malvinas in Argentina, but her demands were repetitively ignored by David Cameron. In 2013 a referendum has held on the Islands with 99.8% of residents saying that they wanted the Falklands to remain British.

Of the 1,517 votes cast in the two-day poll and a turnout of more than 90% 1,513 were in favour, with just three voting against. In May last year, a significant amount of oil was discovered in the waters surrounding the islands causing further tensions.

Corbyn said on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today: "I think there has to be a discussion about how you can bring about some reasonable accommodation with Argentina. It seems to me ridiculous that in the 21st Century we would be getting into some enormous conflict with Argentina about some islands just off it.

"Yes, of course the islanders have an enormous say in it but let's bring about some sensible dialogue. It happened before and I'm sure it can happen again. Surely in the 21st Century, we can do better than going to war on these things."

Corbyn's comments were quickly dismissed by islands who expressed their belief that no discussions over ownership of the Falklands should take place. In 2015, the UK bolstered the defences of the Falklands by deploying two Chinook helicopters, the maintenance of a Royal Navy patrol allowing it stay there all year round, and a £180m programme to upgrade the harbour.

When asked if he supported Margaret Thatcher's response to reclaim the Falklands, Corbyn said: "I thought the original war was a problem for both countries in the sense Galtieri was a deeply unpopular dictator in Argentina. I thought president Terry of Peru was trying to make enormous progress by bringing about a UN resolution to it and then we had the disaster of the sinking of the Belgrano and the situation got worse as a result of that."