Argentina upping the ante on the Falklands....

[View From The Top]

Taking that to its logical conclusion, shouldn't we be annexing the Costa Del Sol?

 

I know we've got the veneer of self-determination here, which is fair enough. On a completely different level, it makes no fkn sense. You wanna be British? That's grand. There's a whole country of us here.

 

Truth is, they don't really want to be British. They wanna remain as Falkland Islanders, and want to keep the UK as a mother country because it's a sh!tload more stable than the situation 300 miles away.

 

Having spent far too long down there it's safe to say they are more "British" than us up here!

[pap]

Having spent far too long down there it's safe to say they are more "British" than us up here!

 

 

Fk it. Let's all move there then. That'd really annoy the Argies.

[alpine_saint]

Taking that to its logical conclusion, shouldn't we be annexing the Costa Del Sol?

 

I know we've got the veneer of self-determination here, which is fair enough. On a completely different level, it makes no fkn sense. You wanna be British? That's grand. There's a whole country of us here.

 

Truth is, they don't really want to be British. They wanna remain as Falkland Islanders, and want to keep the UK as a mother country because it's a sh!tload more stable than the situation 300 miles away.

 

And what is wrong with that ?

 

If it wasnt for the dire climate, I could fancy living in the Falklands. British culture sans British social problems.

[pap]

And what is wrong with that ?

 

If it wasnt for the dire climate, I could fancy living in the Falklands. British culture sans British social problems.

 

Y'see, my plan was to convince Putin to give me a bit of Russia so I could establish a new worker's paradise

 

I think my general point is that these people are bleeding miles away. Being in Britain is a big part of being British. These people know little of the M6. Did the Falklands have a rave scene in the 90s? Was caught up in the civil liberties movements of the 1960s? The industrial action of the 1980s? Are they as rudderless as us now?

 

A big part of nationhood is the shared experience, imo. I just think the experience of a Falklander might be quite different to your mainland Brit.

[St Jim]

Playing devil's advocate for a bit, would anyone be particularly happy if the Isle of Wight was loaded up with Argies?

 

No less happy than knowing that Portsea Island is loaded up with fishf&$#ing inbreds.

[egg]

BUT the fact that the population wish to remain British does mean, to me at least, that we have a duty to ensure that.

 

Nutshell.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

The argument that because the Falklanders live a isolated and predominately rural lifestyle that differs radically from how the majority of our (mainly urban/suburban) population now live, this means that they are therefore not truly British anymore is most objectionable. Are we to take it that because the populations of the Scottish Highlands, North Wales, or the Channel Islands also don't spent hours every week stuck in Motorway traffic or enjoying the dubious benefits of the 'rave scene' that they too are somehow less British than those who do?

 

What a superficial and narrow minded definition of what it means to be British that is.

 

I say that in every way that really matters - the enduring ties of blood, history, and culture, prove that these are our people and they should thus enjoy exactly the same rights and responsibilities as the rest of us. That includes the right to be protected from the threat of foreign aggression by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.

 

As for any remaining geographical based objections to British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, I would suggest objectors take the trouble to read the various applicable articles of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights - a document to which Argentina is a signatory - and then come back and tell this forum that a mere matter of distance outweighs those principles.

[pap]

It's actually a very broad view of being British, demanding bugger all except that you live in Britain and experience life here. I'm well aware that the little enclaves do their best to remain British. Nothing like being here though, so let's not pretend that living off the coast of South America with 2.7K other people is anything like being part of a society of 60,000,000 people.

 

You want to get on your nationalist high horse and start underlining things like a w**ker though, don't let me stop you. It's amusing.

[norwaysaint]

I've been using the Falklands as a theme of discussion with some of my classes (Norwegians learning English). At first glance, they all think it's ludicrous that Britain owns it as a glance at the map shows it should be Argentinian. Then they research the history and check the actual distance. At the start they all favour Argentinian ownership, after research, so far not one does.

 

The Argentinian claim is incredibly weak. The geographical proximity just isn't good enough.

[pap]

Nutshell.

 

Devil's advocate. How much does it cost the British taxpayer to look after these 2.8K people?

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

It's actually a very broad view of being British, demanding bugger all except that you live in Britain and experience life here. I'm well aware that the little enclaves do their best to remain British. Nothing like being here though, so let's not pretend that living off the coast of South America with 2.7K other people is anything like being part of a society of 60,000,000 people.

 

You want to get on your nationalist high horse and start underlining things like a w**ker though, don't let me stop you. It's amusing.

 

Reverting to insults already I see - oh dear.

[egg]

Devil's advocate. How much does it cost the British taxpayer to look after these 2.8K people?

 

No idea.

 

Do we abandon the islanders, and their wishes because of the cost? Not for me.

[pap]

Reverting to insults already I see - oh dear.

 

Just nipping you in the bud quickly. I don't like your debating style, which is essentially to make a point but try and condescend in the process. You just can't be that outraged, Charlie.

 

If you want to have a discussion on themes of nationality, let's do it. Just drop the "Aghast of Hampshire" act. It's f**king old.

[Essruu]

Can't we just give them the Isle of Wight and call it quits?

 

That's not very original

 

(Post #283)

[pap]

That's not very original

 

(Post #283)

 

Yeah, long thread.

 

Happens.

[Minsk]

It's actually a very broad view of being British, demanding bugger all except that you live in Britain and experience life here. I'm well aware that the little enclaves do their best to remain British. Nothing like being here though, so let's not pretend that living off the coast of South America with 2.7K other people is anything like being part of a society of 60,000,000 people.

 

You want to get on your nationalist high horse and start underlining things like a w**ker though, don't let me stop you. It's amusing.

 

I haven't resided in the UK for almost 10 years now. Does this make me less British than you?

 

If you think so, how does that tie in with the fact I served Queen and country for 25 years - more than half my life thus far?

[Tokyo-Saint]

Was it your choice to serve queen and country Minsk? Where you made to do it or did you see a career opportunity you fancied and then decided to do it?

 

It is always strange when people in the services mention about being in the services (or worse post crap on Facebook) like they were conscripted and fought in WW2. I have close mates in the services and some of them are still good guys, realise it was them that chose that carear and talk about it like a human and are easy to get on with. Some others can't help but drop in phrases like 'queen and country' to highlight how special they are. It gives them a level of arrogance that makes them hard to get along with.

 

I am not saying this is you as I don't know you. Just dragging the thread off topic as usual (sorry about that).

 

Some will get on their high horse now. However please note I am note saying they don't do a good job or that the job isn't difficult. Just commenting on how it changed some of my friends and how they portray that somehow signing up wasn't their choice and they did it to serve the queen. They forget that I knew them before and when they signed up it was because they didn't want a normal job, wanted to travel, saw the posters with someone bench pressing on the deck of some ship in the sun and they believed it. It had feck all do do with the queen or the country. If they ended up on some sheep infested island 3000 miles away, it is because they fell for the poster not for some moral obligation.

[pap]

I haven't resided in the UK for almost 10 years now. Does this make me less British than you?

 

If you think so, how does that tie in with the fact I served Queen and country for 25 years - more than half my life thus far?

 

Not really a sliding scale thing, Minsk. I can well appreciate that from your position in chosen exile, you personally feel more British than ever. Not hard to feel the tug of your roots when you're far from them.

 

In terms of contemporary life, you have missed almost a decade.

 

I'm also not sure how relevant your service is to your Britishness. It sort of hangs on the idea that everyone signing up is doing so for altruistic and/or patriotic reasons. Are you saying that's the case? Quite a few of the boys I know in the forces basically joined because they were overgrown boys incapable of looking after themselves at the time. Pretty sure a couple of them would have ended up in nick if the Forces hadn't sorted 'em out. I know that everyone signing up is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, but let's not pretend they're all there to take a bullet for HRH.

 

It's no coincidence that the most deprived areas of the country have such disproportional representation.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

No idea.

 

Do we abandon the islanders, and their wishes because of the cost? Not for me.

 

Well apparently we are to abandon our fellow citizens to their fate because Pap feels it would be financially expedient for us to do so. This would be yet another example of his well thought out and immensely popular arguments on here ...

 

... oh and he doesn't like me very much and it's got something to do with Hampshire.

[pap]

Well apparently we are to abandon our fellow citizens to their fate because Pap feels it would be financially expedient for us to do so. This would be yet another example of his well thought out and immensely popular arguments on here ...

 

... oh and he doesn't like me very much and it's got something to do with Hampshire.

 

Citizen, like many words in the English language, has multiple meanings.

 

The only one that applies to Falkland Islanders is that they have the protection of the mother state. How many Falklanders do you know, Charlie?

[Tokyo-Saint]

Quite a few of the boys I know in the forces basically joined because they were overgrown boys incapable of looking after themselves at the time. Pretty sure a couple of them would have ended up in nick if the Forces hadn't sorted 'em out.

 

Same experience here Pap. Now many are on their high horse, like they joined up because the country was in trouble and the saw the big bat sign in the sky over London City.

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

I'm not sure what point your trying to make Pap that because the Falklands are so far away they can't know what it is to be British?! How far do you take this? Do you think that culturally and lifestyle wise that those in the Western Isles have much in common with those in Toxteth? Do muslims in urban Lancashire have a common experience with sheep farmers in rural Wales? But aren't they all British?

[pap]

Same experience here Pap. Now many are on their high horse, like they joined up because the country was in trouble and the saw the big bat sign in the sky over London City.

 

Thinking about it Tokes, the only people I know who didn't fall into the Forces were the cadet types and people with a family history.

[pap]

I'm not sure what point your trying to make Pap that because the Falklands are so far away they can't know what it is to be British?! How far do you take this? Do you think that culturally and lifestyle wise that those in the Western Isles have much in common with those in Toxteth? Do muslims in urban Lancashire have a common experience with sheep farmers in rural Wales? But aren't they all British?

 

You're right to point out that in a sense, we all live in our own Little Britains. Hell, even my Liverpool is different to someone else's Liverpool.

 

However, all of the people you mention are tied into the country in ways that the Falklands is not, relative vicinity chief amongst them. We travel the same roads, we visit the same places, we go to sleep at around the same time, drink in the same bars. Pretty much anywhere in the UK is easily accessible for any citizen ( rural citizens more bother ), as is Europe or the rest of the world. We have a choice of where we educate our kids, where we get to live, what we have to eat.

 

The Falklanders have one commercial air service off the islands, can't have much of a city culture, can't do trade with their nearest neighbours. Must be a total inconvenient pain in the arse, but doesn't really sound much like life in Britain.

[alpine_saint]

IMO, pap fuflills all the definitions of a troll on this thread.

[pap]

IMO, pap fuflills all the definitions of a troll on this thread.

 

I'll not deny that I'm looking to stir it up.

 

I'll leave precise definitions up to the interpretation.

[badgerx16]

Taking that to its logical conclusion, shouldn't we be annexing the Costa Del Sol?

 

No oil or gas, nor access to the mineral potential of Antarctica.

[pap]

No oil or gas, nor access to the mineral potential of Antarctica.

 

That's what it really boils down to. We can pretend its about self-determination as much as we like, and the Argies can go on about their so-called sovereignty. As usual, it's all about the lucre. There is simply no other reason that UK PLC would spend 75M per annum on keeping 3K people and 300K sheep protected from military threats.

[Suomi Saint]

16-18 year old kids from the Falklands study at Chichester College. They are as British as you and me. Probably more so than Channel Islanders, who are a really weird bunch.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Citizen, like many words in the English language, has multiple meanings.

 

The only one that applies to Falkland Islanders is that they have the protection of the mother state. How many Falklanders do you know, Charlie?

 

Although I have known servicemen who have been there I don't personally know any Falklanders as it happens. Do you?

 

I do know for a fact however that they recently voted overwhelmingly (with just a handful of votes against) to maintain their current political status. As a Democrat and advocate of Human rights I think we should respect the will of the people and continue to offer them all the rights and responsibilities that come with that - including the protection of the law and our military if need be regardless of cost.

 

But if have some objection to that - other than you think their rural lifestyle makes them less British than you - than do try to summon up your thoughts into something resembling a cogent argument and present them here.

[buctootim]

The Falkland Islanders feel British and want to remain British. Britain has been happy for the Islands and Islanders to be that way since before 1833 - long before the whole issue of oil and mineral rights was important. Indeed the oil and minerals belong legally to the Falklands themselves, not to the UK so there is no major financial incentive for the UK to intervene

 

Estimates of oil reserves range from 6.5 to 50 billion barrels. The Falklands government are going to tax at around $3 per barrel and create a sovereign wealth fund. So somewhere between $19.5bn and $150bn will accrue to 3,000 people - very nice, especially when they already have average incomes of around $50,000pa, one of the highest in the world.

 

The Falkland Islanders dont need Britain and Britain doesnt need them but there is shared history and loyalty and Im glad Britain is doing the right thing - just as we did with Monserrat a few years ago - when there was no oil and no banking.

 

Pap, Im so glad I don't share your view of the world, or even that of message boards.

[pap]

Although I have known servicemen who have been there I don't personally know any Falklanders as it happens. Do you?

 

I do know for a fact however that they recently voted overwhelmingly (with just a handful of votes against) to maintain their current political status. As a Democrat and advocate of Human rights I think we should respect the will of the people and continue to offer them all the rights and responsibilities that come with that - including the protection of the law and our military if need be regardless of cost.

 

But if have some objection to that - other than you think their rural lifestyle makes them less British than you - than do try to summon up your thoughts into something resembling a cogent argument and present them here.

 

Well you've made my big point for me. I don't know any Falklanders either, yet I've met countless people from these islands, and spent a good deal of my life living in different parts of the union. As a consequence, I've seen much that makes individual or regional lifestyles that makes us different, but on the flipside, much that makes us very similar.

 

The funny thing is, on the subject of oil exploration, the Falklanders feel decidedly less British. They are looking forward to that cash themselves.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10147350

 

Windfalls going into a sovereign fund Not the UK. Fancy that!

[pap]

The Falkland Islanders feel British and want to remain British. Britain has been happy for the Islands and Islanders to be that way since before 1833 - long before the whole issue of oil and mineral rights was important. Indeed the oil and minerals belong legally to the Falklands themselves, not to the UK so there is no major financial incentive for the UK to intervene

 

Estimates of oil reserves range from 6.5 to 50 billion barrels. The Falklands government are going to tax at around $3 per barrel and create a sovereign wealth fund. So somewhere between $19.5bn and $150bn will accrue to 3,000 people - very nice, especially when they already have average incomes of around $50,000pa, one of the highest in the world.

 

The Falkland Islanders dont need Britain and Britain doesnt need them but there is shared history and loyalty and Im glad Britain is doing the right thing - just as we did with Monserrat a few years ago - when there was no oil and no banking.

 

Pap, Im so glad I don't share your view of the world, or even that of message boards.

 

Again, you're making a point for me.

 

British when they want protection.

 

Falklanders when selling oil rights.

[Tokyo-Saint]

Maybe we should start charging them protection money (as the US do to Japan). People like VFTT & Minsk don't come cheap you know (even if it is all for queen and country) and they are missing some back payments.

[buctootim]

Again, you're making a point for me.

 

British when they want protection.

 

Falklanders when selling oil rights.

 

You're wrong again because you've failed to understand exactly what an overseas territory is and you're cynicism wont allow you to be objective. Post WW2 when the colonies were allowed or in some cases pushed to become independent it was recognised, with full UN agreement that whilst all territories should have the right to self determination some were simply too small to do it all.

 

Kenya, India, Jamaica etc went fully independent. Specks of land like the Caymans, Bermuda and the Falklands became self governing but continuing to rely on the UK for foreign policy and defence. The Falklands have the same deal as all the overseas territories. Britains attitude to the Falklands is no different to anywhere else - as the airlift of troops to Belize when they were threatened by Guatamala shows - and you wont find a poorer less able to fend for itself country in the whole of the western hemisphere.

 

The Falkland Islands feel British because um, they are overwhelmingly of British ancestry (although a few Chileans now live there), they speak English and they have never been part of anywhere else, have no desire to be part of anywhere else and couldnt realistically with 3,000 people maintain, for example, networks of embassies and international agreements and memberships which full independence would require.

[pap]

You're wrong again because you've failed to understand exactly what an overseas territory is and you're cynicism wont allow you to be objective. Post WW2 when the colonies were allowed or in some cases pushed to become independent it was recognised, with full UN agreement that whilst all territories should have the right to self determination some were simply too small to do it all.

 

Kenya, India, Jamaica etc went fully independent. Specks of land like the Caymans, Bermuda and the Falklands became self governing but continuing to rely on the UK for foreign policy and defence. The Falklands have the same deal as all the overseas territories. Britains attitude to the Falklands is no different to anywhere else - as the airlift of troops to Belize when they were threatened by Guatamala shows - and you wont find a poorer less able to fend for itself country in the whole of the western hemisphere.

 

The Falkland Islands feel British because um, they are overwhelmingly of British ancestry (although a few Chileans now live there), they speak English and they have never been part of anywhere else, have no desire to be part of anywhere else and couldnt realistically with 3,000 people maintain, for example, networks of embassies and international agreements and memberships which full independence would require.

 

How am I wrong, exactly?

 

I'm claiming that the Falklanders have been happy to be British when that mean task forces zooming over the Atlantic in the early 1980s to bail them out. Decidedly less British when selling oil rights.

 

Which part of your post addresses that double standard?

[alpine_saint]

Couple of great posts from you, tim.

[pap]

Couple of great posts from you, tim.

 

I'd have thought that you'd have been well unhappy about people we've supported for centuries essentially saying "f*ck you, UK. This money is ours".

 

I sit corrected.

[badgerx16]

.... about people we've supported for centuries essentially saying "f*ck you, UK. This money is ours".

 

 

Isn't that the Scots Nat's line concerning North Sea oil ?

[pap]

Isn't that the Scots Nat's line concerning North Sea oil ?

 

Indeed it is. They'd like to construct a Norway like economy, putting their national resources into improving the country, etc.

 

Interesting article on it here:-

 

http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=517:nobel-prize-winner-oil-wealth-was-qsquanderedq-by-uk

[Tokyo-Saint]

Ridiculous! That money should be pumped straight to London. I for one am sick of the people in Aberdeen living in complete paradise, while we in the south go without. Just because they have the natural resources, doesn't mean we should miss out.

[Whitey Grandad]

Yes, they have been subsidised for years by the southerners and we have had to endure decades of wasteful misrule under Labour governments that only got elected because of their Scottish MPs. That's why they have continued to pump English money into their economy.

 

Then there is the Shetland Islanders' attitude to independence to consider.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/9794316/Alex-Salmond-warning-over-Shetland-oil-after-independence.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/scotland-blog/2012/mar/19/islanders-threaten-salmond-independence-plans

[Ken Tone]

16-18 year old kids from the Falklands study at Chichester College. They are as British as you and me. Probably more so than Channel Islanders, who are a really weird bunch.

 

The brighter ones have been studying at Peter Symonds College in Winchester for much longer than the Chichester link, in fact since immediately after the 1982 conflict. Many years ago, many of the older members of the community remember being sent to board in the UK at various schools, at age 11, in the days when that meant not seeing their parents for years at a time, because it was too far to travel home in the holidays, before the present-day regular flights began. Now they have a decent primary and secondary school to age 16 but come here for A levels and BTECs etc, and for any degree study (which they pay for as overseas students)

 

As it probably pretty obvious from my comments on this thread, I have quite a few personal contacts with Islanders, and have visited there a couple of times. They are very British, and would be infuriated by Pap's trolling remarks about Argentina's claim and about oil money. Even without any eventual possible oil money, the community is already completely self-sufficent financially apart from paying for defence. If it weren't for Argentina's constant bullying, they would need no UK help at all. But they would still keep up the links and would still very much want to be attached to Britain.

 

They are very grateful for the sacrifices made on their behalf in 1982, and do a lot for veterans. There is even some purpose-built accommodation in Stanley, provided by the community, for visiting veterans to stay in.

 

Quite a few follow Saints btw!

[Tokyo-Saint]

Yes, they have been subsidised for years by the southerners and we have had to endure decades of wasteful misrule under Labour governments that only got elected because of their Scottish MPs. That's why they have continued to pump English money into their economy.

 

Then there is the Shetland Islanders' attitude to independence to consider.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/9794316/Alex-Salmond-warning-over-Shetland-oil-after-independence.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/scotland-blog/2012/mar/19/islanders-threaten-salmond-independence-plans

 

Those B@stards, let's nuke them!

 

Now, where do we keep our nukes? Let's let them have it!

[Minsk]

Not really a sliding scale thing, Minsk. I can well appreciate that from your position in chosen exile, you personally feel more British than ever. Not hard to feel the tug of your roots when you're far from them.

 

In terms of contemporary life, you have missed almost a decade.

 

I'm also not sure how relevant your service is to your Britishness. It sort of hangs on the idea that everyone signing up is doing so for altruistic and/or patriotic reasons. Are you saying that's the case? Quite a few of the boys I know in the forces basically joined because they were overgrown boys incapable of looking after themselves at the time. Pretty sure a couple of them would have ended up in nick if the Forces hadn't sorted 'em out. I know that everyone signing up is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, but let's not pretend they're all there to take a bullet for HRH.

 

It's no coincidence that the most deprived areas of the country have such disproportional representation.

 

What a load of guff and bluster!

 

So, as it is not a sliding scale thing and your original quote was: 'It's actually a very broad view of being British, demanding bugger all except that you live in Britain' -I can only conclude that, in your eyes, I am not British as I am living in the Britain. Is that correct? And, I presume, in your eyes my daughter is not allowed to be British either?

 

I guess then I cannot also be a Saints supporter as I don't live within an SO postcode. Oh, and nor can you! Obviously, than is a completely childish and banal statement to make - much like the majority of your posts.

 

I will not even raise to your obvious trolling re servicemen being unable to look after themselves and being potential criminals if not for the discipline. Except to say thank feck you never joined up; judging by your posts, you are the last sort of character anyone would want to have watching their back when the chips were down!!

[Tokyo-Saint]

You're right of course Minsk. One reason why gays shouldn't be allowed into the army. Because if we're in battle, and the chips were down is he going to be looking at the enemy, or is he going to be looking at me and going "Ooh. He looks tasty in his uniform". And I'm not homophobic, all right? Come round, look at my CDs. You'll see Queen, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys. They're all bummers.

 

Pap just isn't an army man.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Well you've made my big point for me. I don't know any Falklanders either, yet I've met countless people from these islands, and spent a good deal of my life living in different parts of the union. As a consequence, I've seen much that makes individual or regional lifestyles that makes us different, but on the flipside, much that makes us very similar.

 

The funny thing is, on the subject of oil exploration, the Falklanders feel decidedly less British. They are looking forward to that cash themselves.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10147350

 

Windfalls going into a sovereign fund Not the UK. Fancy that!

 

Firstly I must comment on how pleased I am to see your (much revised) take on what it means to be British in the 21st Century, although the substance of your so called 'big point' remains something of a mystery. Your cynical interpretation of the islanders motivations is again objectionable and not support by hard evidence or even the newspaper article you cite for that matter. I find the idea that a proportion of the monies generated by oil recovered from the South Atlantic might be retained for the benefit of the local population to be standard practice and entirely unremarkable.

 

While I can't help but think that oil is a diversion from the real question in hand, I suppose it may well become a matter of some political/economic significance in the near future. But this oil business has precious little to do with the question of the historic sovereignty of the islands, their current legal status, or the morality of ignoring the democratically expressed wish of the Falklanders to retain their British identity.

 

We went to war with Argentina back in 1982 over these islands, not because we desperately wanted to secure a potential oil bonanza in the South Atlantic - no significant oil reserves had even been discovered at that time - but rather because this nation could not tolerate seeing our people placed under the heel of a aggressive foreign power. While I recall how averse you are to factual contributions on here, for your information the current costs of defending the Falkland Islands are in the region of some £70m per year - out of a total defence budget that now exceeds £4,600m.

 

But his is not really a question of money, oil or the complex multinational settlement history of the islands. The Falklanders seek to remain British because in the final analysis 'British' is exactly what they are.

Edited 19 March, 2013 by CHAPEL END CHARLIE

[pap]

I agree that we intervened in 1982, but it was nothing to do with the well-being of the islanders, and everything to do with the colossal loss of face that would be accompanied with abandoning its people. On that we're completely agreed. We shouldn't tolerate aggressors, and we were right to reclaim the islands.

 

Oil, along with a bit of political opportunism, is one of the main reasons people are arguing about the Falklands. It's not a sideshow; people are thinking long-term. I believe the money will start rolling in toward the end of the decade. buctootim was good enough to give us an idea of the scale of the income rolling in. That is a tremendous amount of dough for just shy of 3K people. We've defended their right to be British for over a century. My view is if they are British, the dosh should go into a Norwegian style oil fund for the whole of Britain, them included. I'd even be happy with them getting a disproportionately large wedge of the dough; give them the opportunity to build a better community over the long term. It's ridiculous though, in a time of recession, to ringfence all the oil rights money for a Falklands sovereign fund.

 

Just shy of 3K people? FFS, more people live in the Flower Road Estate.

[Kingsland Red]

16-18 year old kids from the Falklands study at Chichester College. They are as British as you and me. Probably more so than Channel Islanders, who are a really weird bunch.

Actually Peter Symonds College , Winchester ,with the Falkland Islands Government building Falklands Lodge, the accommodation for them.

[pap]

What a load of guff and bluster!

 

So, as it is not a sliding scale thing and your original quote was: 'It's actually a very broad view of being British, demanding bugger all except that you live in Britain' -I can only conclude that, in your eyes, I am not British as I am living in the Britain. Is that correct? And, I presume, in your eyes my daughter is not allowed to be British either?

 

I guess then I cannot also be a Saints supporter as I don't live within an SO postcode. Oh, and nor can you! Obviously, than is a completely childish and banal statement to make - much like the majority of your posts.

 

I will not even raise to your obvious trolling re servicemen being unable to look after themselves and being potential criminals if not for the discipline. Except to say thank feck you never joined up; judging by your posts, you are the last sort of character anyone would want to have watching their back when the chips were down!!

 

Brilliant post, Minsk.

 

Every one of my points taken down comprehensively....

 

...or perhaps not.

 

It's clear that I've touched a nerve on your potential Britishness, so let me ask you something. If you love your country so much and it's such an affront to suggest that a decade out of the loop might have depleted your Brit-meter, then why don't you live here?

 

Your point on the SO postcode is ridiculous, Minsk - unless you want to pretend you don't know what it is to be a football fan. The rest of it is just personal insults. I could whack them back all day, sir - but it's demeaning. Tell you what, I'll forget that you cast such terrible aspersions on my character based on my Internet posts, and you try to remember that this a forum where people debate positions, and that 8 pages of people saying "yeah, the Argies are sh!t. we love the Falklands" doesn't make for many conflicting viewpoints.

Edited 19 March, 2013 by pap