Former Defence Secretary Sir John Nott’s place in history will be guaranteed

Sir John along with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher successfully stood up to aggression and showed that Britain would not abandon the people of the Falkland Islands.

Following the Argentine invasion of the South Atlantic islands, Sir John twice offered to resign but Mrs Thatcher refused to accept.

He would stay on until the conclusion of the war after which he stepped down to focus on his business interests.

Sir John served as a regular with the 2nd Gurkha Rifles as a lieutenant and saw service during the Malayan emergency from 1952 to 1956.

He faced criticism for failing to foresee the attack on the Falklands and having already been bruised by rows over defence spending cuts the year before, he pleaded with Mrs Thatcher to be allowed to step down.

But Mrs Thatcher realised she could not allow both her Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary to go at the same time.

And ultimately the British taskforce was successful in reclaiming the islands and Mrs Thatcher’s decision was vindicated. That is why Sir John’s place in history is guaranteed.

Aside from the war, the most memorable moment of his political career was storming out of a TV interview with broadcaster Sir Robin Day later in 1982. However, Sir John retained a sense of humour about the incident.