Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, recently attended a special reception in the Great Hall at Lincoln’s Inn, London, which was held on the 14th June 2012, the 30th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands from Argentinian invasion.
The event was also attended by the Prime Minister, David Cameron MP, who gave a speech to commemorate the 255 British servicemen who lost their lives in upholding the right of self determination for the Falkland Islanders to resist Argentinian aggression. In his address, the Prime Minister also pledged that the Falkland’s would remain British for as long as the Falkland Islanders wished this to be so.
The Falkland Islanders have recently announced a referendum, which is likely to be held early next year, in which the Islanders will be able to express their democratic wish to remain British - in order to counter Argentinian propaganda to the contrary.
Whilst at the event, Mark also met with Mr Mark Worthington, who is Baroness Thatcher’s Private Secretary and who was representing her at the event. The two Marks know each other well and Rayleigh and Wickford’s MP was able to offer his personal thanks to Mr Worthington for everything that Margaret Thatcher did in standing up to the Argentinians in 1982.
Commenting on the event Mark Francois said:
“I remember as a school boy listening on the radio to the news that Argentina had invaded the Falkland Islands and then to the subsequent debates in Parliament when Mrs Thatcher announced that the Government were assembling a task force to retake the islands from Argentina. As well as liberating the Islanders, this action also led to the downfall of a vicious military junta in Argentina, so it is unfortunate that to this day the Argentinians still seek to press a claim over the Island, while the Islanders who vehemently wish to remain British. I know this for a fact as I visited the Falkland Islands myself last November and laid a wreath to commemorate our war dead. It is important to remember the scarifies that were made so the islands can remain free and I was pleased to be able to be there on the 30th anniversary of their liberation, to remember when the Union Flag was raised again above Government House in Port Stanley.