Centre launches petition to defend the Falkland Islands

The Margaret Thatcher Centre has launched a petition, Defend the Falkland Islands, calling on the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, to reinforce the defence of the Islands and to state to Parliament, without qualification, that their sovereignty is not for negotiation.

On 3 September President Javier Milei told the Argentine nation that the Falkland Islands are Argentine “historically and legally”, that the Islanders have no right to self-determination, and that Argentina must recover them. He announced legislation to penalise companies working lawfully in Falkland Islands waters and new funding for a naval base in Tierra del Fuego, the Argentine province nearest the Islands. Days earlier President Trump had said that the United States is reviewing its long-standing position on the Islands.

Downing Street has described Britain’s support for the Islanders as “unwavering”. The Centre welcomes that. But, as the petition puts it, a promise of this kind is not kept by repeating it. It is kept by making certain that it never has to be tested.

What Margaret Thatcher promised

On 3 April 1982, the day after the Argentine invasion, Margaret Thatcher told the House of Commons that the Islanders “are few in number, but they have the right to live in peace, to choose their own way of life and to determine their own allegiance”. Within days a Task Force had sailed, and on 14 June the Islands were free. The following day she told the Commons: “I do not intend to negotiate on the sovereignty of the islands in any way, except with those who live there.”

In January 1983 she went to Stanley herself and was given the Freedom of the Falkland Islands, the first person ever to receive it. The Islanders named a street after her and have kept 10 January as Margaret Thatcher Day since 1992. Her bust stands on Thatcher Drive, close by the Liberation Monument, and its plinth bears her words of 3 April 1982. In March 2013 the Islanders settled the question themselves: on a turnout of 92 per cent, 99.8 per cent voted to remain British.

What the petition asks

The petition calls on Mr Burnham to:

• state to Parliament, without qualification, that British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is not negotiable, that the question was settled by the Islanders in 2013, and that no talks on sovereignty will be entered into without their consent;
• reinforce the defence of the Islands without delay, strengthening the garrison and air defences at Mount Pleasant, returning a frigate or destroyer to the South Atlantic station alongside the patrol vessel already there, and holding additional air and maritime assets at high readiness;
• make a Statement to Parliament setting out the current defence posture in the South Atlantic and the timetable for reinforcement;
• obtain and publish an explicit reaffirmation from the United States that it supports the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future, and report the outcome to Parliament;
• make clear that the licensing of economic activity in Falkland Islands waters is a matter for the Falkland Islands Government alone, and that British companies operating lawfully there will be supported against coercion by any third country.

The Chairman’s words

The Rt Hon Sir Conor Burns, Chairman of the Margaret Thatcher Centre, said:

“The Falkland Islands are British. Not by conquest or oppression. But by the free will of the Falkland Islanders. They were British before Argentina was a nation.

“Sadly, as with the military junta in the 1980s, the Falklands are being used by an Argentine Government as a rallying point to counter domestic unpopularity.

“The courageous decision of Margaret Thatcher to send a Task Force to liberate the Islands from brutal invasion marked a decisive moment in Britain’s recovery on the world stage. It was the moment that Britain showed we would act, not just posture. To her dying day Lady Thatcher felt a deep obligation to the Islanders.

“Our Government today must act to give reassurance to the Islanders. And our friends must be told firmly, with courtesy, that putting your country’s interests ‘First’ is not the exclusive right of the large and loud.

“Bullies of either a democratic or demagogic nature only understand strength and resolution. Our new Prime Minister must show both.”

Add your name

The petition is at thatchercentre.com/petitions/defend-the-falkland-islands. If you wish, the Centre will also write to your Member of Parliament on your behalf and invite them to press the Government for a Statement on the defence of the Islands. We never publish your name.