Falkland Islands

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 9:11 pm on 7 April 1982.

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Photo of Sir Ray Whitney Sir Ray Whitney , Wycombe 9:11, 7 April 1982

If my hon. Friend heard the broadcast, he most certainly misheard me. I said that the Foreign Office as an arm of the British Government was placed in the difficulty of facing the justified demand from this country, as personified in this House, to protect the wishes of the Falkland Islanders against what the Argentine sees as its right, however much we reject its claim to the territory. That is where the pressure lies, and that is what the Foreign Office, as an instrument of policy of both Governments, has had to cope with. As the right hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) pointed out, for 20 years this was a high risk policy.