Minister: UK would defend Falklands

12 April 2012

Britain remains committed to defending the Falkland Islands 25 years after their liberation, the Armed Forces Minister said.

As he arrived for events to mark the anniversary of victory in the Falklands War, Adam Ingram said Britain still had the power to repel an invasion of the islands despite commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But he insisted that despite renewed noises from Buenos Aires pressing Argentina's claim and "diplomatic and economic pressure" on the British Overseas Territory, there was "no prospect" of a repeat of the 1982 conflict.

Mr Ingram flew into the islands alongside The Earl of Wessex, Lord Parkinson - representing Margaret Thatcher's War Cabinet - and the 1982 Governor Sir Rex Hunt ahead of almost a week of commemorative events in the islands.

Lord Parkinson, who will lay a wreath on behalf of Lady Thatcher later this week, is on his first ever visit to the islands.

Other guests at the events will include Lieut Col Chris Keeble, who served as second-in-command to Col "H" Jones who died at the battle of Goose Green, where he won the Victoria Cross.

A total of 255 British servicemen died in the Falklands War, sparked by the Argentinian invasion of the islands in the South Atlantic in April 1982.

June 14 is observed as Liberation Day in the Falklands, marking the date of the Argentinian surrender at the capital Stanley.

Events in the UK next week will include a service attended by the Queen in Pangbourne, Berkshire, and a national parade at Horse Guards in London on Sunday.

Argentina was invited to join a low key commemoration in London but refused.

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