Anyone of a certain generation who remembers what happened in the 1980s will probably have mixed feelings about the bloody Falklands. The way it was used by Mrs Thatcher to boost her own popularity at home, the Belgrano incident, the ill-equipped expeditionary force which recklessly exposed our soldiers and sailors to near total defeat, and the astonishing amounts of money that the British taxpayer had to pay in order to maintain the Falkland Islanders afterwards etc. All this at a time when Thatcher was closing down other 'uneconomic' parts of Britain like Merseyside, Durham, Lancashire, south Yorkshire, South Wales and Clydeside. Yet, who the fuck wanted General Galtieri and his military government to win?
Corky finds it amazing that there are 'colonial oddities' all over the globe which still demand their rights. I don't. If the Falkland Islanders were kept under sovereign British rule against their will it would be a scandal. But they aren't. They've made their own choice and should have the same rights - including mineral rights - of self-determination as any other people. It's certainly awkward that they are where they are. It's faintly embarrassing that they are a relic of the old British Empire. But no group of people should be punished because their origin story isn't as pure as the rest of the world would like. Christ, most Argentines aren't exactly south American aborigines either. Plus, once again, their government is waving 'the Malvinas' flag because it's messing stuff up at home again. We wouldn't want to reward that would we?
