The BBC’s coverage of the Falklands liberation was disgraceful

Having read through the article, it was clear that the author knew little to nothing about the truth behind the war.

The 14th of June 2022 marked a day of remembrance in the British calendar. Indeed, forty years had passed since the liberation of the Falkland Islands from the Argentinian invaders. Many on my street draped Falkland flags from their windows to commemorate the 255 British servicemen that had sacrificed their lives for the Islands’ sovereignty.

In its typically out-of-touch manner, however, the BBC chose to portray the war as nothing more than an embarrassing and shameful imperialist nostalgia trip. Having largely ignored the commemorations altogether on its national news, the BBC showed its disdain for its country by publishing an article titled ‘Falkland Islands: loss echoes across Argentina 40 years on’, in which it portrayed Argentina as the innocent victim and Britain as the colonial bully. Indeed, the article continually makes references to Britain’s “colonial desires” and the effects colonialism “still has” today whilst claiming that the war helped to expose who really “has the power in the world”. The article even pathetically attempts to tug on the heartstrings of its readers by describing the “young men” (the Argies; not us, of course) being “sent off to fight in bitterly cold temperatures with little equipment and protection” whilst also alluding to the children of modern day Argentina who build models of the memorial on the war’s anniversary- an exercise which would probably be described as far-right nationalism if done by British children. The icing on the cake, however, was the author’s use of metaphorical language which depicted Britain as a “monster” which needed to be “driven away” by the Argentinians.

Having read through the article, it was clear that the author knew little to nothing about the truth behind the war. First and foremost, the author failed to mention the reality of Argentina in the 1980s. Indeed, since 1976, Argentina had been ruled by a fascist military junta which had overseen the mass torture and killing of its own people- particularly minorities and political opponents. In his book ‘Who Dares Wins’, historian Dominic Sandbrook describes the Argentine junta as being “good at wearing sunglasses and leather jackets and launching coup d’états but its only experience of combat was attaching electrodes to the testicles of left-wing poets”.

With the Argentinian economy on the verge of collapsing and mounting tensions amongst the population, the junta saw the taking of the islands as a way of galvanizing patriotic sentiment and support for the government. Upon hearing the news of the invasion, Labour leader Michael Foot would utter his famous words: “I know a fascist when I see one”.

The myth that the Falklands war had anything to do with ‘colonial ambitions’ must also be debunked. In fact, the years preceding the war could be best characterised by the Conservative government doing all it could to rid itself of the islands. Indeed, the Thatcher administration, which Tony Benn once described as knowing “the price of everything but the value of nothing”, believed that the cost of constantly supplying the island was just another burden on the British taxpayer. Many ideas were floated around by the government, including offering every adult a handsome fee of a million pounds to vacate the island.

Finally, the government opted for the Hong Kong option whereby the islands would be given to Argentina who would then essentially lease the islands back to Britain for a hundred-year period. The Argentine government would thus be able to claim that they had reclaimed the islands whilst the local inhabitants would be able to see out the rest of their life on the islands. Everyone happy, right? Well, no. When the news was broken to the Falklanders, the unfortunate British diplomat delivering the message was met with a wave of hysteria and a chorus of boos. Many could be heard shouting that they would rather die than be ruled by the Argentine junta. As the government civil servant made his escape in a helicopter, he looked down to find that a rendition of ‘Land of hope and glory’ had erupted among the crowd now frantically waving Union Jacks.

The government’s final roll of the dice was to make popular diplomat and war hero Sir Rex Hunt the new governor of the Falkland Islands. His real task, however, was to convince the inhabitants to abandon the islands. After just weeks of governing the Falklands, Sir Rex Hunt became completely enamoured of the islanders’ way of life which he described as “more British than the British”. Upon hearing the news of the impending Argentine invasion, Hunt was given several opportunities to evacuate the islands. The governor refused. Instead, he returned to his home where he re-emerged in his military uniform, holding a shotgun and stating that he was ready to defend the Union Jack until his dying breath.

It must also be pointed out that Britain was also the only party willing to compromise throughout the war. Indeed, on two occasions, the British government was prepared to accept a peace deal concocted by the US and Peru which would see the islands under control of a neutral international organisation, such as the UN, for two years whilst the UK and Argentina agreed a new settlement. Undoubtedly, this deal would have inevitably resulted in Argentina taking control of the islands at some point in the future. Yet the Argentinian government broke all olive branches that were presented to it, refusing to entertain any solution that did not involve immediate Argentinian control of the islands.

Today, Britain should be proud of the role it played in transforming the Falklands into the thriving island it has become. In 1986, the British government allowed the Falklands to claim the fishing rights of the 150 miles of water that surrounded the island. The sale of fishing licences to foreign fleets multiplied the island’s income three-fold, virtually overnight. As a result, the government was able to invest in road infrastructure, a ferry which linked the West and East Falkland Islands and paid all the expenses needed for all young Falklanders to attend British universities. The Falkland Islands is now a prosperous land with its income per capita comparable to those of Norway and Qatar. The islands’ population now stands at over 3000 people and continues to grow each year. With Argentina’s inflation rate now standing at 52%, it is no wonder that 99.8% of Falklanders voted to remain British in a recent referendum[3].

Yet our national broadcasting body chooses to ignore all this…