Posts Tagged ‘brown’
Britains internal security damaged by Google street view – MI5 – UK
At a time when Britain is perceived as weak by those hostile to the British way of life thanks to Labour’s mishandling of most things to do with the management of Britain I find it incredulous to see the latest reports that suggest that Britain’s most sensitive sites are listed like this.
Surely even Cash Gordon must know the risk he is putting the United Kingdom under by not ensuring adequate protection of sensitive military sites. !
Jim Ferguson
By Gordon Thomas
LONDON – British security chief Jonathan Evans, head of MI5, has warned the Brown government that the country’s most sensitive military and security bases have been “seriously damaged by Google’s Street View.”
Agents with MI5 are satisfied that thousands of images have been downloaded by U.K.-based Muslims, suspected associates of al-Qaida. The images show close-ups of Britain’s atomic weapons research center and the nation’s doughnut-shaped eavesdropping center at Cheltenham.
MI5 has found its buildings across Britain included in the “Street View” service.
Google has been warned that placing any of the images on its website contravenes the Official Secrets Act. The penalty of any breach can carry lengthy prison sentences under British law.
“This week Google has removed most of the images. But the damage has been done. The images are now in the hands of suspect terrorists,” Evans has told the government.
One site is at Menwith Hill, in the north of England near Harrogate. Its giant “golf balls” are linked to satellites and are clearly visible. The image shows the access roads to the “golf balls.” The U.K. shares the base with America’s National Security Agency.
The golf ball shapes are the very core of the base’s role as a global eavesdropper. Known as radomes, each shape is positioned on a carefully aligned course known as the “Runway,” which allows them to intercept messages from communications from space.
Coated in toughened Teflon to shed the rain that constantly develops across the North Sea, the “golf balls” are each equipped with computers which interdict the networks as they bounce their messages around the world.
Another image that would be of “high value to a terrorist group is the Hanslope Park base near Milton Keynes, where MI6 officers analyze data from GCHQ,” said an intelligence source.
One of the most guarded entrances in London – Thames House, the headquarters of MI5, clearly is pinpointed.
“Until recently the Google Map published information only on major British cities, [giving] no more than a broadspan view of the area. Now it has clear images of almost every street,” said the intelligence source.
Another facility – secret until now – is the SAS Counter-Terrorism training center in Pontrilas in Herefordshire.
The Google site has photographed it to reveal there one of the SAS aircraft used for special forces training exercises.
Another top-secret facility on the website is the exterior of the new ORION Laser Research Facility at Aldermaston, the atomic weapons research center in Berkshire.
Across the Irish Sea, on the edge of a Belfast housing estate, is the Ulster facility of MI5′s Loughside headquarters. It is from there that the Security Service monitors Irish extremists.
“If they didn’t know where we were they most certainly do now,” said an intelligence officer in Northern Ireland.
The Special Boat Service – classified as Highly Secret in Ministry of Defense manuals – has on the website an easily readable sign in red outside. It reads: “Prohibited place within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act. Loitering, sketching, photography forbidden.”
Faced with the full fury of MI5, a Google spokesman said that, “if mistakes are made we will remove the images. We are unaware of any official concerns about security. But we are happy to discuss any issues as they arise.”
Tweet this!
Military chiefs savage Gordon Brown over incorrect evidence Iraq enquiry – Humiliation for British Government
This is a serious blow for Brown and his discredited Labour Government. Even the very top brass of the British armed forces cannot stomach his outright dishonesty and disrespect for our armed forces.
The sooner our brave men and woman of the United Kingdom’s armed forces have a Conservative Government they can trust the better.
Jim Ferguson
PM Admits Iraq Inquiry Defence Spending Error
6:54pm UK, Wednesday March 17, 2010
Miranda Richardson, Sky News Online
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has admitted giving incorrect evidence to the Iraq Inquiry on defence spending.
Mr Brown told Sir John Chilcot’s panel that the defence budget had risen “in real terms every year”.
But House of Commons reseach shows Mr Brown’s claim was wrong, and he has now written to Sir John to correct it.
The PM said that the Treasury had agreed spending with the MoD for 2002, 2004 and 2007.
“The Iraqi expenditure was being met, but at the same time the defence budget was rising in real terms every year,” he said.
Repeating his claim, he told them: “The spending review of 2004 gave the Ministry of Defence a rising level of real spending, moving from 1.2% to 1.4% in real terms each year.”
But a research note prepared by the House of Commons Library in October last year showed defence expenditure had fallen in real terms in four financial years since Labour came to power in 1997: 1997/98 (-2.2%); 1999/2000 (-0.4%); 2004/5 (-0.7%); and 2006/7 (-0.1%).
In real terms it is 12% higher, but I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms.
Gordon Brown
The average annual increase between 1997 and 2009 was 2.7%, it said, but noted that “this figure is likely to have been distorted by current operations”.
Asked at Prime Minister’s Questions whether he would correct the record, Mr Brown said: “Yes. I am already writing to Sir John Chilcot about this issue.
“Because of operational fluctuations in the way the money is spent, expenditure has risen in cash terms every year, in real terms it is 12% higher, but I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms.”
The Prime Minister’s evidence to the Inquiry sparked condemnation from senior military figures.
Lord Boyce – who was the head of the military at the time of the invasion – called him “disingenuous” and insisted the MoD was starved of funds.
“He’s dissembling, he’s being disingenuous,” Admiral Boyce told The Times newspaper.
“It’s just not the case that the Ministry of Defence was given everything it needed
“There may have been a 1.5% increase in the defence budget but the MoD was starved of funds.”
Lord Boyce’s predecessor Lord Guthrie accused Mr Brown of costing soldiers their lives by failing to fund the army properly.
The Tories described Mr Brown’s admission as a “humiliating climbdown”.
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: “He has made repeated and fundamentally false claims, misleading Parliament, the public and worst of all the Armed Forces and their families.”
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said Mr Brown had “taken the first opportunity” to tell MPs about the mistake.
<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=2001437c67″>Prime Minister’s Questions</a>
Tweet this!
Fuel prices set to rocket – Highland business at serious risk Scotland UK
Business and hard pressed people across the Highlands face even greater hardship due to fuel prices that are set to soar. Some estimates suggest that the more rural parts of scotland will face prices of around £1.30 per litre.
This is totally unacceptable and as if we wern’t facing enough problems this latest bombshell may see more and more people struggling to cope. How will penshioners manage to heat their homes ? The fact that the vast majority of the cost is tax that goes straight into the Labour Governments pockets is scandalous when they can see the pressure that people are already under thanks to Labours recession.
And what of the LibDem MP Danny Alexander. What will he do ? Not much. Not much a minority party MP like him can do anyway.
This general election will give the people of the Highlands an opportunity to elect an MP who will be able to deliver.
If the country is fortunate enough to elect a Conservative Government then I as the MP for this region will be in a far stronger position to bring real help and support to the people of the Highlands of Scotland instead of the empty weak words of the Liberals who can only whine and wring their hands in helplessness.
Jim Ferguson
Petrol Price Woe For Drivers As Costs Soar
4:28pm UK, Tuesday March 16, 2010
James Jordan, Sky News Online
Petrol prices could reach an eye-watering 120p per litre later this year, the AA is warning.
The organisation is claiming that unleaded fuel could even top the price, equivalent to £5.41 a gallon, and Alistair Darling is being urged to delay the introduction of a planned 3p increase in petrol duty due to come in on April 1.
AA president Edmund King said: “The UK is barely out of recession, yet petrol prices threaten to rise to record prices seen during the boom of 2008 – shortly before the collapse into recession.
“If families, drivers on fixed incomes and those on low pay were unable to cope with record prices then, they are even less likely now.”
AA research found an average family with two cars is paying £52 a month more to fill up now than a year ago.
Motorists are being legally mugged at the forecourt by petrol companies.
Lindsay Hoyle, Labour MP on the Commons business select committee
The average petrol price in the UK is 115.9p for a litre of unleaded and 116.6p for a litre of diesel.
Even if the 3p increase is withdrawn, the price paid by drivers could soon hit 120p a litre – £5.41 a gallon – according to the organisation.
This would overtake the previous high of 119.7p of July 2008.
The AA said the price increases were caused by the rise in the price of wholesale gasoline since the end of January.
Lindsay Hoyle, the senior Labour MP on the Commons business select committee, said it was “a complete disgrace”.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “Yes, crude oil has gone up this year, but nothing like the rise in petrol prices. Motorists are being legally mugged at the forecourt by petrol companies.”
Tweet this!
Unite Union has an unhealthy grip of Labour
Charlie Whelan’s new militant tendency
Tuesday, March 16 2010
Michael Gove has spoken about “Charlie Whelan’s New Militant Tendency” in a speech setting out how dependent the Labour Party is on Unite – Britain’s biggest trade union.
His speech marked the launch of a new document that shines a light on how Unite has taken advantage of Labour’s near bankruptcy and the departure of Tony Blair to gain an unprecedented grip on the party.
Under the political direction of Charlie Whelan, Unite is using its financial and organisation muscle to drive government policy and build a Labour Party very different to the one that appealed to Middle England and won three general elections. Instead, with Gordon Brown as leader, there has been a reversal of much-needed public service reforms, a return to industrial militancy and a regression into atavistic class war rhetoric.
“There can be few more powerful forces of conservatism opposed to the flexibility, freedom and choice of the post-bureaucratic age than the Whelanist Tendency now in control of the Labour party”, Gove said.
“Labour’s re-unionisation has put them in bed with the past at a time when it is crucial that this country wakes up to the future.”
The document sets out in detail the way in which, in the three years since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, Unite has spent more than £11 million of its members’ money on buying influence within the Labour Party.
This extends from placing a key union operative inside 10 Downing Street to taking effective control of many cash-strapped constituency Labour parties and installing Unite activists and officials as prospective Parliamentary candidates.
Gove said that “the last thing we need is a political system where genuine participation in democracy is out-muscled by union power”.
“This election will decide the future of this country and Labour represents a move backwards, not forwards”, he added.
Read Michael Gove’s speech in full
You can read our dossier on “Charlie Whelan’s New Militant Tendency” in the document reader below, or alternatively click here to download a copy in PDF format.
Tweet this!
For the sake of the British people we must get rid of this Labour Government UK
The biggest risk for Britain is five more years of Gordon Brown
Wednesday, March 10 2010
William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, has argued that the biggest risk for Britain is five more years of Gordon Brown.
Speaking to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, he said that ”our ability to undertake economic modernisation will be critical to Britain’s future influence”.
“When capital, labour and technology are increasingly mobile we cannot stand still”, he said. “That is why James Dyson’s report about how we can give more weight to science and technology in our economy is so welcome”.
“That is why our proposals on business taxation are oriented towards attracting and maintaining investment, why our programme of education reform explicitly draws from best practice across the globe, from Alberta to Sweden to Singapore, to ensure we make the most of every young person’s talent in the future.”
Hague warned that the modernisation our economy needs is not guaranteed. “If our opponents’ mistaken arguments and mistaken principles prevailed Britain will move backwards towards a ’70s style model, with a bigger say for the trade unions who want to impose rigidity and unaffordable regulation across the public and private sector. The bridge will be drawn up against innovation and investment.”
He also warned that Labour is no longer “the outward-looking thinking of the late 1990s”, but that it’s taking “an explicitly old-fashioned Left approach” – particularly in selecting candidates who are ”hardened union activists with a track record in resisting modernisation”.
Hague said Gordon Brown was right to refer to the economy being “at a crossroads” in a speech he gave today. “We could continue with five more years of his debt, waste and taxes. We know where that would lead – just yesterday an international credit rating agency warned that Labour’s plans would result in the loss of our credit rating. ”
“That would be a catastrophe for our economy and for our reputation around the world”, he said.
“So the biggest risk for Britain is five more years of Gordon Brown. The alternative is to change direction, deal with our debts more quickly and restore confidence in our economy. A new Conservative Government will be a chance to send the signal far and wide that Britain is once again open for business.”
Tweet this!
Labour and EU dictate terror policy putting British people at serious risk
Labour are at it again. Now they want to put the British people at risk from terrorists and all with the EU’s blessing.
Incredible.
Jim Ferguson
EU rules are fatal for terror watchlist
Thursday, February 25 2010
Shadow Security Minister Baroness Neville-Jones has pointed out that EU rules will make the Government’s proposed terror watchlists ineffective.
In response to the failed attack on an airliner heading for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, the Government announced that it would use the existing Home Office Watchlist as the basis for two new lists.
There was to be a no-fly list, and a larger list of those who should be subject to special measures prior to boarding flights bound for the UK (including transit/transfer passengers).
However, the European Commission says the UK cannot compulsorily collect Advance Passenger Information (API) for flights from within the EU under the e-Borders scheme, regardless of the nationality of the passenger.
And as the British Government has decided to also not collect and use Passenger Name Record information (PNR) for intra-EU flights, this means that Britain currently has no way of collecting advance information on all travellers arriving from within the EU.
The Detroit bomber flew from Nigeria to Holland and then on to America. If he’d travelled through Britain he might well not have been picked up by the new watchlist.
Speaking about the issue in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Neville-Jones said that Labour are “knowingly and inexcusably misleading the public into thinking that they are creating a system which will be an effective barrier to dangerous people being able to get on to a flight to the UK”.
“The flimsy basis of the new watch list will provide no such protection”, she added.
Tweet this!
Pope to unleash ” hell ” on Labour and the socialist liberals
Pope could give Labour Party ‘hell’
catholic leader responds to Jim Murphy’s speech appealing for religious voters’ support
By Katrine Bussey
The Pope could give Labour “hell” over its record on family matters, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland said yesterday.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien hit out in the wake of a speech by Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy in which he attempted to appeal to religious voters.
Cardinal O’Brien accused the government of making “a systematic and unrelenting attack on family values”.
With Pope Benedict XVI due to visit Scotland later this year, the churchman revealed he had told Labour Holyrood leader Iain Gray that “he could really give you hell for what you have done in our country over the past 10 years”.
Cardinal O’Brien has criticised government policies on stem cell experimentation on human embryos, civil partnerships, same-sex adoption and abortion.
He said: “There’s a whole series of measures which have been legislated for over the past 10 years which are against basic Christian standards.
“I feel on behalf of my own Church and peoples of other faiths as well, that I am entering into this daily contest, fighting for the standards by which we stand as Christians here.”
Cardinal O’Brien said he had met the Pope in Rome recently and also said he had spoken to Mr Gray about the pontiff’s visit to Scotland.
He said the Labour Party had “accepted some praise” for playing a role in attracting the Pope to Scotland.
Cardinal O’Brien continued: “I said to Iain Gray ‘when the Pope does come I hope he emphasises to you the Christian teaching when he’s here, that’s what John Paul II did when he was here’.
“And in some ways I said to him he could really give you hell for what you have done in our country over the past 10 years, demeaning family and married life and these other things that have been happening over the past 10 years.”
Mr Murphy said on Tuesday night that “faith has always been important to Labour”.
The Scottish secretary, who was delivering the Progress lecture, stated: “In the US, faith has long played a central part in politics.
“Not surprising for a country where 60% of people say that God plays an important part in their lives.
“But it’s wrong to think that it plays no role in British politics.”
Mr Murphy, a Catholic, added research from the time of the 2005 general election suggested Labour support was strongest among religious people.
The Pope was invited to the UK by Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a private audience, and earlier this month the Catholic Church confirmed Scotland would be included in the visit which is expected to take place in the autumn.
Pope Benedict XVI’s visit will be the first since predecessor John Paul II’s visit in 1982.
Tweet this!
Darling faced Browns ” forces of hell “
Brown denies unleashing ‘forces of hell’ on Darling
Alistair Darling: ‘It was a weekend you could have done without’ (Courtesy of Sky News – Jeff Randall Live)
Gordon Brown has denied ordering any briefing against his chancellor, after Alistair Darling said “the forces of hell” had been unleashed against him.
Mr Darling said No 10 and the Tories had given him “a weekend you could have done without” after he had forecast the worst recession for 60 years, in 2008.
But Mr Darling rejected suggestions he had been bullied by the prime minister.
And Mr Brown told GMTV he “would never instruct anybody to do anything other than support my chancellor”.
The PM, who again denied allegations of bullying, said he and Mr Darling and their families had been friends for 20 years and had “huge mutual respect”.
Mr Brown was speaking on Wednesday morning after Mr Darling’s comments in a Sky News interview on Tuesday evening.
A Conservative spokesman said: “The idea that Gordon Brown runs a happy and united team has been blown apart.
“This is amazing public confirmation from the prime minister’s own chancellor that he ordered his henchmen to brief against him.”
‘Still here’
In August 2008, Mr Darling caused a political uproar when he said economic conditions were “arguably the worst they’ve been in 60 years”.
 |
 I do not know why the briefers did what they did. One day maybe they will explain  Alistair Darling
|
Following this, there were media reports that 10 Downing Street was unhappy with his analysis and his handling of the economy.
There were also suggestions Mr Darling might be reshuffled to make way for Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary and a close ally of Mr Brown.
Questioned by Sky News about the response to his comments, Mr Darling said that “the forces of hell were unleashed”.
And asked whether that had been orchestrated by 10 Downing Street, he said: “The Tories as well. It was a weekend you could have done without.
“I do not know why the briefers did what they did. One day maybe they will explain.
“What I do know is, unfortunately and it’s not a great source of pleasure, but what I said did turn out to be true.”
In an apparent reference to Mr Brown’s former spin doctor Damian McBride, the chancellor added: “Frankly, my best answer for them is, I’m still here, one of them is not.”
Mr McBride was forced to resign last year after a planned smear campaign against senior Conservatives emerged in leaked e-mails he had written.
‘Robust exchanges’
Asked about Mr Darling’s suggestions of a briefing campaign, the PM said: “I was never part of anything to do with this. Look, this was the most amazing time… and lots of things were happening in this time.
“But I would never instruct anybody to do anything other than support my chancellor, and I think Alistair will confirm that.”
Darling speaking about the economy in August 2008
Mr Darling rejected suggestions he had ever been bullied by Mr Brown, but said: “Of course, Gordon and I have some very robust exchanges.
“I can’t imagine any healthy relationship between a prime minister and a chancellor where they don’t have differences from time to time.”
He admitted there had been “some bad days” in his relationship with the prime minister but insisted there was more that united the two men than would “ever divide us”.
Mr Brown was also asked again whether he had bullied anyone: “No. I get angry sometimes, doesn’t everybody? I get impatient. I’m driven to do the things.
“Actually, we work in an open plan office, we’re a sort of family in Downing Street and like every family there’s issues that come from time to time, but we’ve got a great working environment and we get things done.”
Schools Secretary Ed Balls also told the BBC he did not “recognise this atmosphere” of alleged bullying at Number 10.
“Jeremy Heywood, who is the top civil servant, said the opposite was true – it was a friendly, caring, supportive environment. I think he is right,” Mr Balls said.
Mr Darling’s comments follow allegations in political journalist Andrew Rawnsley’s book that Mr McBride and Charlie Whelan, another Brown supporter, had been behind the briefing.
Both Mr McBride and Mr Whelan, a senior official with the Unite union, had their names put to the chancellor in the Sky News interview, but he did not refer to either directly.
I dont think there can be any doubt that Brown piled on the pressure to Darling when he came clean about the state of the economy. It seems that Brown the Bully and his past are indeed catching up with him and as they say the truth will be out.
If Brown was masterminding a campaign to undermine his own chancellor then what chance does the country have with such a divided and war torn Labour party savaging each other in such a bad tempered and aggressive way.
The sooner this discredited Labour Government is booted out of office the better.
Jim Ferguson
Tweet this!
Brown now appears to bully head of charity for speaking out
PM claims by bullying charity challenged by Labour
Gordon Brown his said any anger is usually directed at himself
|
Labour has gone on the offensive over Gordon Brown’s temperament after an anti-bullying charity said it had been contacted by staff from his office.
The prime minister’s Parliamentary aide called for evidence of the calls from the National Bullying Helpline.
Charity boss Christine Pratt has said she spoke out in anger at government denials of staff mistreatment in No 10.
The Observer had reported that civil service head Sir Gus O’Donnell warned the PM about behaviour towards staff.
Labour MP Anne Snelgrove – who is the prime minister’s Parliamentary private secretary – said the charity “needs to demonstrate that these questions really have come from staff at Number 10″.
“Why is she [Ms Pratt] going public with this rather than taking it up privately if these phone calls were genuine?”
In ‘denial’
The charity’s chief executive told the BBC that its helpline had been called three or four times by Downing Street staff in the last three or four years.
Christine Pratt: Staff have concerns
Ms Pratt added: “Over recent months we have had several inquiries from staff within Gordon Brown’s office.
“Some have downloaded information; some have actually called our helpline directly and I have spoken to staff in his office.”
She said she would expect any employer in this situation not to “go into denial, but to look into it, to follow due process”.
Outright denial could “compound the stress of those who believe they are being bullied”, she said.
“We are not suggesting that Gordon Brown is a bully, what we are saying is staff in his office working directly with him have issues, and have concerns, and have contacted our helpline.”
|
What Labour had hoped would be a one-day story is getting wind in its sails BBC deputy political editor James Landale
|
Downing Street said it had never been contacted by the charity about the allegations, a No 10 spokesman adding that it had “rigorous, well established procedures” for “staff to address any concerns over inappropriate treatment or behaviour”.
“The civil service will continue to have a no tolerance policy on bullying,” the spokesman said.
Warning claim
Reports of Mr Brown’s alleged mistreatment of staff appeared in extracts from a book by the Observer’s chief political commentator Andrew Rawnsley.
The book includes details of incidents where it is alleged Mr Brown grabbed staff by the lapels, shoved them aside and shouted at them.
Downing Street says the reports are “malicious allegations” that are “without foundation”.
|
I have not seen any of that behaviour in all the time I have been at No 10 or an MP Labour MP Anne Snelgrove
|
Responding to the allegations, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: “I don’t think he so much bullies people as he is very demanding of people.”
Other members of the cabinet rallied to the prime minister’s defence, with Home Secretary Alan Johnson saying that in 17 years he had “never” heard Mr Brown raise his voice.
A Cabinet Office statement said: “It is completely untrue to say that the cabinet secretary ever gave the prime minister a verbal warning about his behaviour”.
Mr Rawnsley told the BBC his source for the story was “24 carat”.
‘Non-political’
BBC deputy political editor James Landale said Ms Pratt’s claims had “put paid” to Labour’s hopes that “allegations about Gordon Brown’s temper would fade once the Sunday papers were forgotten”.
“What Labour had hoped would be a one-day story is now getting wind in its sails and disrupting even further the party’s election plans.”
Mrs Snelgrove questioned why the National Bullying Helpline had “popped up out of the blue when all of this is happening around Gordon”.
|
NICK ROBINSON’S NEWSLOG
 The woman who told the BBC her National Bullying Helpline was called by three people who worked with the prime minister is now at the centre of a political storm  |
She added: “Life is too short to work for someone who is a bully and I would not be working for Gordon if he was a bully.
“I have not seen any of that behaviour in all the time I have been at No 10 or an MP.”
Tory MP Ann Widdecombe is a patron of the charity, whose website also displays a statement of support from Conservative leader David Cameron.
Lord Mandelson’s Department for Business recommends the helpline to businesses.
The charity says it is non-political, and the BBC has found no evidence of any political involvement by Ms Pratt or the helpline.
Ms Widdecombe said it would be “quite a good idea” for Sir Gus to take “an informal look” at workplace conditions at No 10.
But she criticised Ms Pratt’s decision to go public, saying the helpline was supposed to be confidential.
Labour is starting to disintegrate and the Prime Minister is in denial. His shocking agressive past is now catching up with him and his latest attempts to persuade the public have failed. Being a strong leader is one thing. Being an aggressive bully is quite another and no one in high office can be allowed to treat people in such an appalling way.
Its time for Brown and his cabal of misfits to go once and for all. We dont need him and we dont want him.
Jim Ferguson
Tweet this!
Falklands Islands will remain British under a Conservative Government
There should be no doubt about the Falklands Islands
Thursday, February 18 2010
Reacting to recent events, Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has said that “there should never be the slightest doubt where Britain stands on the Falkland Islands”.
He said that good relations with Argentina are “desirable and welcome”, but emphasised that the British Government should make it clear that the islands will remain British territory “for as long as the islanders wish it”.
“Sovereignty over the islands is therefore not up for negotiation”, Hague said, adding that the islanders have “every right” to develop the natural resources of their islands and surrounding waters.
“It should be made very clear that the wholly legitimate search for oil in the Falkland’s waters will not be affected by unwarranted threats or interference from Argentina. Additionally the British government should state clearly that no vessel operating within the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands will require any form of permit from any other country.”
“Increased British naval presence in the area would leave no doubt as to this position”, he added.
There can be little doubt that Argentina are at it again with serious provocation and an outragous attempt to interfere with British shipping around the Falklands Islands. I am certain that a Conservative Government will take no nonesense from Argentina but I am not so certain that Labour have the courage.
I would not expect the Prime Ditherer Brown to be up for much of a fight as he is too busy fighting his nearest and dearest in his own Cabinet let alone a hostile nation.
The islanders can expect full support and backing from us however and William Hague has made it abundantly clear what our position is.
Jim Ferguson
Tweet this!
