| FALKLAND ISLANDS | "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?" |
| Yes | 1,513 (99.8%) |
| No | 3 (0.2%) |
FALKLAND ISLANDERS have voted overwhelmingly to remain British in a referendum held in the south Atlantic territory over the past two days.
In all, 1,513 (99.8%) voters responded in the affirmative to the set question: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?". Only three people (0.2%) voted against in a strong turnout of 90.7%.
That the outcome was not a surprise is an understatement, to say the least. Indeed, in terms of elections, there will rarely be anything as inevitable as this result.
So, why hold the referendum then in the first place? Well, the Argentine government has claimed it is nothing more than a PR exercise and has already confirmed it will simply ignore the result.
And, in a certain sense, the Argentines are correct in their suggestion. The vote has been held for little other reason than for the Falkland people to make an unequivocal statement.
However, it is now over 30 years since the Falklands War, and more than 26 since the Falklanders last voted to affirm their desire to be British.
It is no wonder they have now felt inclined to do so, particularly with the Falklands recently having become a bit of a hot issue again.
Earlier this year, Argentine foreign minister Hector Timerman said that the islands would be under the control of his country within 20 years. He also accused Britain of occupying the islands for "access to oil and natural resources".
Moreover, the fervour swept up by the Argentine government looks like it is working. Faced with an economic situation, which is worsening by the day, the baseless sabre-rattling is proving to be a successful distraction for Argentina President Cristina Kirchner.
Polling by Yougov and Argentine equivalent Ibarometro shows that, while only 1% of British people pick the Falklands as one of the most important international issues facing the country, 24% of Argentinians do.
Asked directly about Falklands, 54% of British respondents think it is an important issue to Britain, compared to 67% of Argentinians who think it is an important issue to Argentina.
Despite that, many Argentinians seem to have little idea of the islands' history, or remain knowingly ignorant.
The argument used by foreign minister Timerman - that there is no such thing as a Falklander and that Britain occupies the islands solely for use of its natural resources - is parroted unthinkingly.
But, even if it was the case that Britain now maintains a south Atlantic base for oil, it certainly was not in the past. Not unless the first British settlers had incredible foresight in 1690, that is 126 years before Argentina even became a country in its own right.
Of course, the nadir in diplomatic relations between Britain and Argentina occurred in 1982 with the outbreak of the Falklands War, a 74-day conflict which cost the lives of 255 British servicemen, approximately 650 Argentine servicemen, and three Falklands civilians.
The single biggest loss of life came with the sinking of the Belgrano, an Argentine navy ship, by HMS Conqueror. 323 Argentina servicemen were killed in what remains a highly controversial military assault by the British.
Worse, though, was the now infamous tub-thumping reaction of the Sun newspaper, and its sickeningly vainglorious "Gotcha" headline.
No doubt, the fate of the Belgrano and its occupants is the most memorable incident in the war, and one which has coloured the view of many people in Britain of the whole conflict.
Certainly, there seems to be a lot of bitterness about the Falklands War generally by those on the political Left.
For example, there have been no fewer than three articles on the Guardian website in the last few days, all of them written from an Argentine perspective, including one by the South American country's ambassador to London, Alicia Castro.
Of course, it did not help the Left that one of the direct consequences of the British victory was the huge boost in morale for Margaret Thatcher's ailing Conservative government.
Indeed, having been struggling in the polls through almost all of her first term, the Tories rallied from the summer of 1982 onwards and pulled off a huge landslide win in the 1983 general election.
It was an even bigger victory for Mrs Thatcher than her breakthrough win in 1979, and it essentially sealed her position at the top of British politics for the rest of the decade.
But, while the fate of history was clearly not on the side of the Left politically, such pettiness should be put aside and the Left should accept the necessity of the Falklands War (if not, necessarily, the Belgrano incident).
Ultimately, as far as I am concerned, the good folk in Port Stanley are as British as anyone living in Bristol, Bradford or Birmingham.
And, after the dark day on 2 April 1982 when Argentine forces swept unannounced across the island, those Britons' lives deserved to be protected by a British counter-offensive.
Far from being meaningless, as suggested by ambassador Castro, this referendum result actually means everything to the Falklanders.
It is their only way of making a statement to the rest of the world that they will not be moved. Now, if only Argentina would listen.
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