Britain Backs Morocco’s Autonomy Plan For Western Sahara, Says Time For Resolution Long-overdue

David Lammy (left) and Nasser Bourita (right)

Source: Africa Publicity

Britain has become the latest country to back Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, saying the time for a resolution on the dispute is long-overdue.

David Lammy, Britain’s Foreign Minister, says on Sunday, June 1, 2025 that Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara was the “most credible” solution.

Lammy’s comment marks a revisal in UK’s policy for the Western Sahara.

Western Sahara is a mineral-rich territory largely controlled by Morocco. But it has been claimed by Algeria-backed Polisario Front, with the decades-long dispute over the territory still unresolved.

Since 2020 when the United States of America recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, the Moroccan government has been campaigning for broader support for its autonomy over the disputed territory.

Speaking to journalists in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday, Lammy says “The United Kingdom considers Morocco’s autonomy proposal submitted in 2007 as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a long resolution of the dispute.”

In the past, Britain’s position for self-determination for the disputed territory.

Morocco’s Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, welcomed Britain’s new position on the territory, saying Britain’s new position contributed “greatly to advancing this momentum and promoting the UN path towards a definitive and mutually acceptable solution based on the autonomy initiative.”

Western Sahara is home to about 600,000. The United Nations considers it a “non-self-governing” territory.

The United Nations has from 1991 administered a peacekeeping mission designed to hold a referendum to determine the status of the disputed territory.

According to Lammy, “The time for a resolution and to move this issue forward is long-overdue, and would strengthen the stability of North Africa.”

But Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement released on Sunday, June 2, 2025, called Morocco’s autonomy plan “empty of content and incapable of contributing to a serious and credible settlement of the conflict.”

According to the statement, “Algeria hopes that, as a permanent member of the Security Council, the United Kingdom will continue to hold Morocco accountable for its international responsibilities.”