Britain must stand with the Falklands
It is almost an iron law of politics: when an Argentinian leader is facing re-election, they turn up the heat on the Falkland Islands. Javier Milei, the Argentine president, is no different. With his poll ratings heading south and facing a challenge to his Right from a Falklands hardliner, Mr Milei on Thursday declared in a national broadcast that "the [Falkland] islands are ours" and that Argentina will "prevail" in "recover[ing]" them.
So far, perhaps, so predictable. However, Mr Milei went beyond mere rhetoric to announce that he would sanction British and Israeli oil firms operating off the coast of the Falklands. Significant oil reserves have been found near the Islands, with reports suggesting they could provide twice the annual output of the entire North Sea.
Mr Milei appears to have been emboldened by Donald Trump's suggestion that he was reviewing America's traditional, officially neutral position on the Falklands' sovereignty. Mr Trump suggested this was as a punishment for not helping sufficiently in the Iran War.
All of this ignores, of course, the will of the Falkland Islanders themselves. In 2013, they held a referendum on their future. On a turnout of 90 per cent, 1,513 people voted to remain a UK overseas territory. Only three voted against. The Falklanders' position is clear, regardless of what Mr Milei or Mr Trump think. The idea that sovereignty could be invalidated by proximity to another country is also nonsense. Does Taiwan's location give China the right to invade it? Or Ukraine's mean it is in fact Russian?
There are no indications that Argentina is about to invade the Falkland Islands. But it is welcome that the Government has reiterated its stance. Ed Miliband , the Foreign Secretary, declared that "the Islands are British" and the UK's position is "unwavering". This puts Mr Miliband in the strange position of defending the right of the Falklands to extract resources at their disposal, having prevented Britain doing so in the North Sea when he was Energy Secretary. Perhaps he will now see the error of his ways and push the Government to issue new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, vital to our national interest.
This episode should come as a reminder, should our political classes need it, that Britain can only be strong abroad if it is strong at home. Mr Milei derided Britain as a country "in decline". And while it will come as a surprise to many Argentinians that their country, with its high inflation and low wages, is apparently "flourishing", it is clear Britain needs to grow its economy and properly fund its defences.
The Falkland Islands are far more heavily fortified now than they were prior to the 1982 Argentine invasion. But Britain's naval capacity has been severely weakened in recent decades, making any repeat of 1982 a dim prospect were they to be captured. Back then, Britain was able to send a taskforce of 127 ships, 43 of which were Royal Navy vessels. Today, the Navy has just 13 operationally available destroyers and frigates.
The Army – at its smallest size since the Napoleonic Wars – is hardly in better shape. There have been dramatic falls in the number of missile launchers and tanks available to use, while too often the technology the UK does possess malfunctions: 73 long-range artillery pieces were recently tested; only 19 actually worked.
Britain's defences are threadbare at a time of global volatility, with Russia menacing Europe's eastern flank, China stacking its military arsenal and America withdrawing its security umbrella. Yet John Healey, the chancellor, has refused to commit to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030 despite warning , as defence secretary, that failing to do so puts British lives at risk. Mr Milei's Falklands rhetoric only strengthens the case for doing so.
