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Dependent Territories
15 APRIL 1983
yments. They were completely debt-free. They were me-free. They were a model community. Yet their reward was delay in constitutional advance out of deference to an unstable, undemocratic Argentina with which Whitehall was bent on negotiating. Indeed, there was a deliberate refusal to implement the sensible recommendations of the Shackleton report. Why was Shackleton sent out if there was no intention of implementing his recommendations?
Thank God, British honour and credibility were restored by the extraordinary achievements of the task force, made possible by the resolution of this House. But I say again that the war was unnecessary. It was the product of a long period of error, vacillation and failure to see the problem objectively.
Every effort must now be made to rebuild the shattered economy of the Falkland Islands and to give its people the maximum internal self-government. I know how intensely my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, feels about this, and I am satisfied that such efforts are now being made, although very late in the day.
There are three lessons to be learnt from this sorry saga. The first is that we should not have encouraged Argentina by acquiescing in negotiations to believe that there would ever be any transfer of sovereignty unless the Falkland islanders wanted it. They did not want it. Resolutions of their legislative council again and again conveyed to us in the House and presumably to Her Majesty's Government of the day that they were British, wished to remain so, and valued their connections with the people of the United Kingdom.
The second lesson is that, after the military takeover in Argentina in 1976, it was morally wrong to negotiate with a regime guilty of murdering large numbers of its own people. As I see it, until there is a purge in Argentina and genuine democratic government is restored and respect for basic human rights has been established, that position is` unchanged and there can be no question of resuming bilateral negotiations.
The third lesson that we should learn is that sovereignty is only a means to an end. I shall not waste time engaging in argument about legalities. We are concerned with the welfare and security of a small democratic community in the South Atlantic. That is what matters. Previous bilateral negotiations with Argentina over many years did not provide security for the islanders. On the contrary, these led to bloody conflict. Previous British policy did not promote the well-being of the islanders. On the contrary, it was a contributory factor to the rundown of their economy and to a decline in their numbers.
Mr. Dalyell: Since a civilian Government in Buenos Aires would be no easier to deal with than a junta, how does the hon. Gentleman propose to avoid a second Falklands/Malvinas war? Unless discussions sovereignty take place, more blood will be spilt.
on
Sir Bernard Braine: Argentina does not have a civilian Government. Before that unhappy country acquires one, Argentina will suffer an internal bloody conflict. At the moment mobs are calling for the general to be hanged from the lamp posts and the president who took Argentina into the war is under arrest. The criminals who murdered between 15,000 and 30,000 of their own people, as well as those of 29 other nationalities, including
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Britons and hundreds of European Community subjects, have not yet been called to account for their actions or brought to trial.
I do not agree with the hon. Member for West Lothian, but I respect his integrity. I appreciate that he speaks with honesty about these subjects. However, even he must face reality. On that basis, it would have been possible to argue, at the height of Hitler's power in Germany, that evil could not prevail for ever and perhaps we should have entered into an arrangement with him. Could we have spoken of the possibility, once we were locked in bloody conflict, of coming to a compromise agreement with Hitler? It is not possible to compromise with evil, and evil has prevailed in Argentina for a long time. I say with sadness in my heart that the first victims of the junta were not the Falkland islanders or British service men but Argentines. It is not possible to compromise with such people. The question that the hon. Member for West Lothian asked is one that every Argentine should be asking himself.
If the Falkland islanders are to have effective protection in future from a repetition of the agression which the hon. Member for West Lothian tells the House they can expect from even a democratic Argentine Government and at the same time have a proper voice in their own affairs, an entirely new constitutional approach is needed. I am not opposed to the idea of placing the Falklands under some form of international trusteeship. In those circumstances it would be more difficult even for a dictatorship, let alone a democratic Government, to mount a military operation against a territory that had been effectively placed under international control. I said “effectively" because Britain would have to remain the administering power.
Another fallacy is to assume that small territories have no importance and can be safely put out of mind. That is absolute nonsense. The Falkland Islands are the gateway to Antarctica. In the event of a global crisis causing the Panama canal to be closed, they will be of high strategic ́importance to the West. Even uninhabited South Georgia on the fringe of the Antarctic is surrounded by the world's largest single source of protein. By the year 2000 the world will be approaching a stage when it will be unable to feed its teeming millions. Who would say now that the resources of this part of Britain's remaining respon- sibilities will not be of importance to a starving world?
Again, is it realised that Britain could not have mounted the operation to rescue the Falklands had it not been for Ascension Island? Ascension Island cannot be run without St. Helena labour. Two or three years ago I tried to bring home to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the interdependence of the south Atlantic dependencies and how they were linked. I made a report, following a visit I made at the invitation of the governor and the legislature of St. Helena, which concluded that the Foreign Office seemed to regard these three territories as being in three different oceans. I found that the administrator on Ascension had not even seen the current development plan for St. Helena and its dependencies. The St. Helenans do not emigrate to Ascension as the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) said. Ascension is important to key workers in St. Helena because Britain denies access to them. It is the only outlet they have. However, the writ of the governor of St. Helena at that time did not run in Ascension.
Of the remaining dependencies several have consider- able importance. Each needs to be handled with special
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