Defend the Falkland Islands
President Milei has told Argentina that the Falkland Islands must be recovered and that the Islanders have no right to decide their own future. We are asking the Prime Minister to reinforce the defence of the Islands and to state, without qualification, that their sovereignty is not for negotiation.
Keeping faith with the Falkland Islanders
On 3 September 2026 the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, used a televised address to his nation to declare 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.
He spoke days after the President of the United States said that Washington is reviewing its long-standing position on the Islands, and left unanswered whether America would stand with Britain in any future dispute over them.
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. It travelled 8,000 miles, 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 Britain has kept her word for forty-four years.
The Islanders have not forgotten. They gave her the Freedom of the Falkland Islands, the first person ever to receive it. They named a street in Stanley after her, and they 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.
Why words are not enough
Downing Street has said that Britain’s support for the Islanders is “unwavering”. We welcome that. But 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 has changed is not the merit of Argentina’s claim, but the confidence with which it is being pressed, and the doubt now cast over the support of Britain’s closest ally.
What we are asking for
We call on the Prime Minister to:
- State to Parliament, without qualification, that British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is not negotiable; that the question was settled by the Islanders themselves in 2013; and that no talks on sovereignty will be entered into, now or ever, without their consent.
- Reinforce the defence of the Islands without delay: strengthen the garrison and the air defences at Mount Pleasant, return a frigate or destroyer to the South Atlantic station alongside the patrol vessel already there, and hold additional air and maritime assets at high readiness so that any escalation can be met at once rather than answered weeks later.
- Make a Statement to Parliament setting out the current defence posture in the South Atlantic and the timetable for reinforcement, so that Parliament and the Islanders can see that the commitment is real and not rhetorical.
- 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.
- Defend lawful commerce in Falkland Islands waters. Make clear that the licensing of economic activity in those 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.
Lady Thatcher understood that the surest way to avoid a war is to leave no one in any doubt that you would win one. That is what we ask of her successor now.
Add your name
The Margaret Thatcher Centre asks everyone who believes that Britain should keep faith with the Falkland Islanders to sign this petition. If you wish, we 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.
Please add your signature, and encourage others to do the same.