The last time Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands some of us wondered why they would want to control some islands just off Scotland and the rest simply asked, “Where the fuck are the Falkland Islands?” Back in 1984, we found out soon enough. Prime Minister’ Margaret Thatcher’s catastrophic negligence in running down the Royal Navy encouraged the Argentina fascist government to invade the islands, only to be finally overpowered by a superior fighting force. This secured Thatcher’s legacy as The Iron Lady and we were stuck with her for the rest of the decade. When the islands were regained, General Galtieri’s government fell too, returning the country to democracy. Today, Argentina has a brand new far right president and he wants the Falklands, or Malvinas as he calls them, back.
Quarterwit and Secretary of State for Imbecility Grant Shapps put his shit sandwich to one side, got all hot under the collar went straight onto the social media page X, formerly known as Twitter and said this:
“The Falkland Islands are British. That is non-negotiable and undeniable. 99.8% of islanders voted to remain British and we will always defend their right to self-determination and the UK’s sovereignty with HMS Forth now back to protect the islands.”
While the government sets about trashing international law and threatening to ignore international treaties to which we have long been signatorities with regard to refugees and asylum. seekers, it seems rather strange to see Shapps blustering that actually he expects Javier Milei, AKA El Peluca (the wig) the new Argentine president to break international law by taking the islands back. I don’t know that he does expect Falklands War Mk 2, but I would suggest from his early sabre-rattling, he’d quite fancy at least the prospect of one.
Oddly enough, Milei is a bit of a picture boy for the hard right and his anti-woke, hostility to the LGBT community, anti-abortion, climate change denial is not a million miles away from the far right groups and parties all over the world, not least in the UK where the odious Turning Point has welcomed his election victory, one also welcomed by Donald Trump. Oddly, the British hard right has so far remained quiet on the issue of the Falklands so maybe Shapps’s intervention has to be seen in that light. But maybe some might see the islands as a minor distraction as fascism builds once more in South America and they live in hope it could happen here, too? Stranger things have happened.
Somehow, I don’t think the clock will be turned back to 1982, with British ships sent south to liberate the islands again but you can bet your bottom dollar that this government will be doing all it can to talk tough and pretend there is a major threat, even when there isn’t. Sunak the Iron Man? Not when he can’t even find a pair of trousers that are long enough.
