USS Iwo Jima to the Royal Navy

[Wreford-Brown]

If you look at history, the UK only had a claim on West Falkland (not East Falkland, where the majority of the infrastructure, the capital and primary port are) and abandoned their claim on the Falkland Islands at least once leaving Spanish colonists on the islands.

Argentina went to the UN in the 1960s and 70s asking for a decision on the Falkland Islands and received a UN mandate which reminded all nations of their post-WW2 agreement to stop colonisation anywhere on the globe, but with a caveat that it was to be up to the people to decide how they wished to govern themselves.

I hope the UK does the right thing next year and invites a load of UN and Argentinean observers for the referendum that is being held. Many people from many nations have lost their lives over the last couple of centuries over the Falkland Islands. Regardless of which way the vote goes, let's hope the international community, particularly the UK and Argentina, respect the result.