Falklanders to vote on sovereignty

The Falkland Islands government said it hopes the vote – to be held early next year – will send a firm message to Argentina that islanders want to remain British.

Three decades after Margaret Thatcher sent 27,000 troops and more than 100 ships to expel Argentinian invaders, Buenos Aires continues to set its sights on claiming the territory it calls Las Malvinas.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will restate her country’s claim before the United Nations Decolonisation Committee on Thursday, the 30th anniversary of the liberation of the islands.

Gavin Short, chairman of the Falklands Legislative Assembly, said: “We are holding this referendum not because we have any doubts about who we are and what future we want, but to show the world just how certain we are about it.

“I have no doubt that the people of the Falklands wish for the islands to remain a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom.

“We certainly have no desire to be ruled by the government in Buenos Aires, a fact that is immediately obvious to anyone who has visited the islands and heard our views.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Next year’s referendum will determine beyond doubt the views of the people of the Falklands. Britain will respect and defend their choice.

“We look to all UN members to live up to their responsibilities under the UN Charter and accept the islanders’ decision about how they want to live.”

He added: “I have always said that it is up to the Falkland Islanders themselves to choose whether they want to be British and that the world should listen to their views. Thirty years ago they made clear that they wanted to stay British. That’s why British forces bravely liberated the islands from Argentine invaders.

“Now the Argentine government wants to put that choice in doubt again, by shouting down the islanders’ ability to speak for themselves and punishing them for exercising their own free choice.”

Downing Street insisted that the decision was taken by the authorities in Port Stanley, not London.

“They discussed it with us, but it is their decision and we fully support them,” said a spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman was asked whether Mr Cameron would match his support for a referendum on the political future of the Falklands with a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.

She replied: “Should there be any chance of powers going from Westminster to Brussels, then that will trigger a referendum.

“But in terms of our membership of the EU, he feels that that is not something we should have a referendum on now. That’s not something that the British people want right now.”

The Falkland Islands, a rocky archipelago in the south Atlantic, are 7,780 miles from the UK and 1,140 miles from Buenos Aires.

They have been under British control since 1833 – apart from the brief but bitter 74 days of occupation in 1982. Just over half of their population of 3,000 people are on the electoral roll and expected to take part in the vote.

It will be the first referendum held on the islands, but in a poll in the mid-1980s, 94.5 per cent wanted to stay British.

Ms Kirchner has been stepping up the claim to the islands, a common tactic of politicians courting popularity in Argentina.

She announced that Buenos Aires would launch criminal proceedings against UK oil firms operating off the Falklands coastline and has implemented measures to hinder the island’s economy