The British government is not ruling out the possibility of supporting Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara. «We continue to have discussions with our Moroccan friends», said Foreign Secretary David Lammy in response to a question from Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell. «This is a complex issue. The position of the government remains unchanged. Of course, we keep things under review as we continue to discuss these issues», he added. The MP had urged the Labour government to follow the lead of countries such as Spain, the United States, and France, which have supported Morocco's 2007 proposal to resolve the Sahara conflict. Lammy's comments mark a shift from the response the Labour government gave in September 2024 to a written question from Conservative MP Andrew Murrison. At the time, Lammy had stated that «successive UK Governments have regarded the status of Western Sahara as undetermined». Since mid-January, Morocco has had the support of the «Labour Friends of Morocco» (LFM), a group chaired by MP Joe Powell. The initiative aims to bolster ties between Morocco and the Labour Party, which has been in power since its landslide victory in the July 4 snap elections. As a reminder, the Labour government last week declined to ban British companies from investing in Western Sahara.
