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The Argentine president, Javier Millet, has been making some rather aggressive sounding noises
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in relation to the Falkland Islands, or the Malvinas as he calls them
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Falkland Islands are Argentinian by history and by law. There is no discussion about it
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The islands have been part of Argentine territory since the origins of our nation
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The UK's position on the Falkland Islands is unwavering, according to Downing Street
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the Falkland Islands are British and the Falkland Islanders are British and they have made it clear
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time and time again that they choose to be British. That is the settled position
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Andy Burnham for his part, by the way, says he fully supports the wishes of the Islanders
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to remain a British overseas territory. Let's talk to Donald Lamont, former governor of the
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Falkland Islands, who also served as Britain's ambassador to Venezuela. What do you make of this
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kind of what's now becoming a rather persistent call, isn't it? Well, I think the Wall Street Journal kind of got it right. This is a well-used playbook
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by Argentine politicians. When they are in difficulties in the lead up to an election
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they reach out to make saber-rattling noises about the Falklands. But it's worth kind of reflecting on some of the things
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that have changed in the Falklands since 1982, since the war. At that time, the Falklands were in decline
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The population was reducing. The prospects were grim. But the islands are now very prosperous
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They're well governed. They've managed their fishery resource very well. There is also a capable UK military presence there which was not the case in 1982 They have clearly kind of the support of British politicians and indeed of the population
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I mean, looking back, I mean, I was a teenager when that war happened, but looking back
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the very fact that so much blood was spilt on both sides, but obviously with a concern for the British
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sides in mind, that probably changed how the British public feel about those islands as a
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concern, doesn't it? And as essentially a sense of sort of fraternity with them that perhaps didn't
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pre-exist. I think that's right. I, to be honest, personally, I've been surprised here, setting aside
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these noises from Argentina. As a retired diplomat, the interest among people
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around where I live in the Falklands has surprised me. No one's interested in me talking to them
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about other places I've served, Uruguay or Venezuela or whatever. It's the Falklands
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There is something there and so much impact human impact in 1982, that has left quite deep traces
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You'll be aware that Donald Trump has thrown his oar in. He sparked a bit of diplomatic tension by
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refusing to back UK sovereignty over the islands. I was there when they had the first war. That was a long time ago. And I watched it so carefully
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And you comported yourselves very well. You took it back pretty strongly. But it's a long way away
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That's a big trip. It a long way So your country not doing well Don forget you get a big percentage of your oil from the Strait of Hormuz
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And you weren't there to help me. Your country was not there to help me
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We didn't need help, but I did ask NATO and I asked your former leader for water and you
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send a couple of ships. He said, we don't have any. And it was pretty sad, the whole thing
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But the Falklands is very interesting because your country is not the same country it was
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under Margaret Thatcher 20 years ago, 25 years ago. That was a long time ago
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Oh, yeah. And you went there and you just took it back very quickly
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There was no games. So I don't know if you're prepared to do that
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I don't know if you can. Whether we have the capacity to do that. I just don't know if you have the capacity to do that
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Well, I think I'm sure the Foreign Office won't be looking to me for advice on how to
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deal with President Trump and the administration. But I think it's a theme in the British media
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recently that President Trump will be no easier to deal with over the remainder of his term
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And he does seem to kind of judge the quality of a bilateral relationship by his personal view
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of the leader. And it's clear that he kind of, you know, Millet is one who is favoured by
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MAGA, by President Trump. So that's an element in the equation. Can you remind me, at the time of the Falklands War, or the time of the invasion before
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the ships and the Air Force had got there, America wasn't full-throated about backing the UK
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at the beginning, was it? No I mean there was a strong unsurprisingly a strong element in Washington that was very if you like Latin America oriented and regarded this as an outdated colonial issue
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but key Americans were helpful in very important ways including by supplying weapons, sidewinder missiles and others
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that were really kind of vital to our military campaign. And if I can just finally refer back to something you said earlier on
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about the state of play in the Falklands at the time or prior to the invasion
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Is it conceivable that if the invasion hadn't happened, the Falklands could have eventually, even within yours and my lifetime, depopulated completely
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Well, who knows? But that's the way it was heading. The economy had been dependent on wool and wool prices had been in decline
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there was really no strong support from the UK at that time
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And people will joke if the Argentines had sat on their hands
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that they could just walk in. But the war of 1982 changed things kind of in all sorts of ways
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It's one of those what-if questions of history, I suppose, isn't it
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Indeed. The road not travelled by both the Argentinians and by us as well
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Well, we'll see where that goes. Fascinating. And by the way, for the record, we will be interested to talk to you about Venezuela when the time is right
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even if other people aren't
