The United Kingdom has expressed hope to see tangible progress on the Western Sahara file in the coming months, stressing the importance of ending what it described as a long-running conflict that continues to hinder greater unity in North Africa.
The position was voiced by Hamish Falconer, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in response to a question from Conservative MP Andrew Murrison in the House of Commons.
Murrison congratulated the government on what he described as a change and update in the UK’s language on Western Sahara, and asked what steps London would take to ensure that the progress achieved since the 2019 association agreement with Morocco is sustained and further developed, both in terms of bilateral trade and mutual security.
In his reply, published on the official website of the UK Parliament, Falconer said that the House would be aware “both of the shift in position on Western Sahara announced by the previous Foreign Secretary, and of our vote in the recent Security Council deliberations about the future negotiations over Western Sahara.”
He added that the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, “retains our full confidence” and is working hard to advance talks, underlining that “it is vital to try to bring to a close this long-running conflict and impediment to greater unity in North Africa,” while expressing London’s hope to see progress in the months ahead.
The British position comes after the UK formally shifted its stance on the issue in favor of Morocco’s autonomy proposal during a visit by former Foreign Secretary David Lammy to Rabat in June, where he held talks with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on the occasion of the fifth session of the Morocco–UK Strategic Dialogue.
One of the key outcomes of the joint statement signed in Rabat on June 1, 2025, was Britain’s explicit recognition of Morocco’s autonomy initiative as “the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting settlement” of the dispute.
The statement also affirmed that London would continue to work bilaterally and internationally, including through economic and regional cooperation, in line with this position to support efforts aimed at resolving the conflict—an evolution seen as a strategic gain for Rabat within the UN Security Council, where the UK is a permanent member.
This support was reflected during the UN Security Council meeting held on October 31, when Resolution 2797 was adopted, calling on the parties to negotiate on the basis of Morocco’s autonomy proposal. The United Kingdom voted in favor of the resolution.
At the same time, Morocco is currently working on detailing and updating its autonomy proposal for the southern provinces, following the launch by King Mohammed VI of a broad consultative process involving leaders of national political parties represented in Parliament. The parties were asked to submit memoranda outlining their detailed visions of the initiative, with a view to reaching a unified formula in the coming period.
