One of those ‘red lines’ many people will have to think about crossing when they consider whether to vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in 2020 will be his attitude to the Falklands Islands. For his views on the islands, taken by the fascist Argentinian junta in 1982 and reclaimed shortly thereafter by our armed forces, represent a significant change from mainstream policies and opinions.
Corbyn says: ” (There) has to be a discussion about how we can bring about some reasonable accommodation with Argentina.” He adds that there would be no ‘veto’ for the islanders in respect of any negotiation or agreement. For one thing, I am disappointed that Corbyn has even raised the matter. He himself acknowledged the role the islands played in the 1983 general election, but seeks to debate it all over again. The red line over the Falklands is not one I would readily cross and I’ll bet not many others will either.
Labour’s leader was suitably vague in his language, which is the norm for most politicians on most issues. “Some reasonable accommodation” might mean giving the Argentinians very little. I’m afraid, given recent history, I’d give them nothing.
Interestingly, though, Corbyn’s potential position, to hand back at least part of the island’s sovereignty to Argentina, is little different from that of the Conservative government back in 1980. At that time, Thatcher’s close ally Nicholas Ridley was busying negotiating the handing over of the islands to Argentina, which was then controlled by a military dictatorship, featuring one Leopoldo Galtieri, who came to infamy just two years later, leading the invasion of the islands. View the document yourself, by clicking here.
Far from being the heroine of the Falklands, a myth that has since endured, Thatcher was asleep at the wheel and it was the inaction and incompetence of her government that all but encouraged Galtieri to invade. As prime minister, it was her fault. I fully supported the task force sent to reclaim the islands, but I find it sick-making when that woman is praised over the Falklands War rather than being condemned for allowing it to happen in the first place.
Like Ridley’s politics over the Falklands, Corbyn’s are misguided and simply wrong. The views and feelings of the islanders are paramount and all the polling evidence suggests that most Briton’s agree with them. There are no circumstances by which I could support surrounding any aspect of sovereignty and I hope Corbyn’s minders urge him to think it through, accept the wish of the people of the Falklands (by visiting them, if necessary) and concentrate on matters that are of immediate concern to ordinary folk.
