Falklands : MPs Visit the Falklands
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 16.11.2005 (Article Archived on 30.11.2005)
A group of five MPs have spent the day in Stanley.
Photo (c) J. Brock (FINN) MPs from left to right: Howarth, Rosindell, Bottomley, Donohoe and Ashworth.
MPS VISIT THE FALKLANDS
MPs enjoyed a sunny and warm day in Stanley. Here they inspect one of the FIDF's guns.
By J. Brock (FINN)
Five Members of Parliament have visited the Falklands as guests of the Military at Mount Pleasant Complex. Peter Bottomley, Conservatice, Brian Donohoe, Labour, Gerald Howarth, Conservative, Andrew Rosindell, Conservative and Richard Ashworth, Conservative arrived in the Falklands on Monday, 14 November and will be here approximately a week. On Tuesday they came to Stanley to have a briefing by the Chief Executive, Mr. Chris Simpkins and Julian Morris of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation. Also in the morning they had a tour of the schools with the Director of Education, Mrs. Sylvia Cole and a lunch with Councillor Candidates at the Jetty Centre. After lunch there was a tour of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, a meeting with H. E. the Governor Mr. Howard Pearce, a visit to the Stanley Museum and a briefing and rigid raider ride thanks to the Falkland Islands Defence Force and Major Peter Biggs.
It was at the FIDF Club rooms that FINN Caught up with them and asked whether expanding the command to from British Forces Falkland Islands to British Forces South Atlantic Islands spread our protection rather thinly over 10 Million square miles. Peter Bottomley said that the one word answer was no and he went on to say that the military weren’t expected to protect every whale. They did have to be aware of the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia. He added, “We read on the Falkland Islands News Network that Davidoff lost his court case so that’s one less scrap merchant out of the way.” Brian Donohoe set the record firmly straight when he said that even though he was the only Labour MP in the bunch that all were in agreement that it was an excellent change. “What you have to do is engage on the basis of the threat. If the threat increased the circumstances would be different,” he added. As it stands, I think we got it right.
The major commitment was in Iraq and Afghanistan where the threat is. “I think that all of us that have an interest in the protection of British interests around the world want to do the right thing about defence,” said Gerald Howarth. He went on to say, “I personally feel that I am going to have a crusade in my own party to spend more if we are going to maintain the operations and man them. We are very thinly spread. Your point about 10 Million square miles – it’s quite a dramatic figure illustrates this is a remote part of the world and it is important to have a presence. If you get bogged down in one of two theatres you are not going to have the forces to go elsewhere,” he concluded.
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