Keir Starmer is in charge of our geopolitical interests (Image: PA)
’s vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, has lambasted a new UK-Argentina agreement, whining her nation had been offered mere “crumbs”. She hit out at the plans over the weekend, saying they were “contrary to the interests of our nation”.
Argentine President has seemingly blown hot and cold on the issue, but wisely doesn’t wish to escalate tensions that wouldn’t end well if the events of 1982 are any indication.
“Do they take us for fools? They are getting material, concrete and immediate benefits, while they are offering us crumbs as emotional consolation and weakening our ability to negotiate,” Ms Villarruel, a fiercely conservative politician fumed.
The pact, announced last week, includes resuming flights to the islands, restarting negotiations on a humanitarian project plan, and organising a trip for relatives of fallen soldiers of the Falklands war to visit their graves.
Diana Mondino, Argentina’s foreign minister, and her British counterpart, , reached the accord at the recent UN general assembly, with both their offices hailing the measures as serving to “improve the bilateral relationship”.
In terms of the agreement a monthly flight to the islands from São Paulo in will stop in Córdoba, Argentina. In addition, both countries have agreed to cooperate on the conservation of fisheries.
Any progress on a touchy subject like this is of course to be welcomed, but not at any price. When it comes to the Falklands and their inhabitants, the overwhelming desire is to remain British. And in any case our sovereignty over the Falklands is absolute and well-grounded in international law, despite Argentinian objection.
The same is true of Gibraltar which was ceded to us in perpetuity in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht, which also has a bearing on the Falklands since it covered the surrender of Spanish possessions at the time.
Enough with the history, Possums. Suffice to say, Argentina decided to have a go by invading British sovereign territory in 1982. It didn’t end well as it resulted in a lot of death and destruction and for what, Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri? So little regard seems to be forthcoming for the people who live in the Falklands and the other British territories in the vicinity though, and, by the way, their choice is to remain British.
The actual conflict part of the saga in Anglo Argentine relations saw Galtieri’s mob eventually surrender after Maggie despatched a task force to retake what belongs to us.
The Royal Marines, the Paras, the Royal Navy, and all our men in uniform acquitted themselves magnificently on the battlefield.
All the facts of historical significance don’t change anything. Make no mistake, Argentina wants those islands and will leave no stone unturned in that endeavour. He won’t be trying his luck taking us on in fight again for the time being perhaps, but never be blind to reality, and certainly never drop your guard.
Sadly, the state of our armed forces is appalling. We cannot manage to muster sufficient manpower to operate our naval assets or the other service branches for current operations, so any nonsense over the Falklands would not see an appropriate response.
Add to this tragedy the announcement today by Two-Tier for the capitulation over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean by surrendering sovereignty to Mauritius after two hundred plus years. Mauritius, in case you weren’t aware, is very chummy with and an ally of the People’s Republic of China. Why is this so important? Well, the vital strategically located airbase of Diego Garcia is in the Chagos Islands.
Currently used by the US, it is vital in providing logistics and combat support as is very well known. Biden endorsed the move which Starmer made. Why on earth would you hand any potential tactical advantage to an adversary like China?
In the face of outright cowardice and dereliction of duty over Diego Garcia I wouldn’t place ANY faith and trust in Two-Tier and David Lammy to do anything in our geopolitical interests. They kowtow to the EU, they have capitulated to Mauritius, and, God forbid, they’ll sell us out to Argentina as well given half a chance. Gibraltar is on the auction block too lest we forget.
Where’s our backbone? Where’s our bottle? And what the hell happened to our mojo? And is really the man to rediscover them?