HL Deb 29 November 1982 vol 436 cc1067-9

3.7 p.m.

Baroness Vickers

My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. In view of what happened to the amendment that I moved to the British Nationality Bill on 7th October 1981, I hope I shall receive support from noble Lords on all sides of the House, because your Lordships may remember that the voting then was 90–90. It was a tie, but this time I hope it will be unanimous.

I should like to thank Lord Bruce of Donington for kindly withdrawing his Bill, because I think it had one regrettable provision in it (which I think I mentioned to him when I spoke to him, but I am still very grateful to him for not continuing with his Bill) which would have constituted a loophole for people all over the world wanting to enter the islands. For example, if a child was born in the Falklands of Argentine parents, he could apply for British nationality after the age of 10 so long as he had not been absent from the Falklands for more than 90 days at any one time in his 10 years.

In 1592 Captain John Davis discovered the islands uninhabited. He arrived on a ship called "Desire", which led to the island motto "Desire the Right". Since 1766 the islands have been persistently inhabited by Britons, and were peaceful and prosperous under British administration. The islands are largely self-governing. The Legislature is elected. In 1690 there was the first recorded landing, by Captain Strong of the "Welfare", who called the islands after the third Viscount Falkland, who was then a Treasurer of the Navy and later First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1774 the garrison withdrew. However, British sovereignty was not allowed to lapse, because it was maintained by what was then the custom of a lead plaque which was left behind declaring the Falkland Islands to be the sole property of King George III. Then it became a base for British sealing and whaling activities.

Its economy is dependent on farming, which yields about £3 million a year; and stamps account for about 20 per cent. of the islands' economy. The annual income of the islanders was about £1,400 a head in 1980. It has a well-equipped hospital, with 27 beds, three doctors and 10 nurses, and a flying doctor service. As to education, there are well qualified teachers in primary and secondary schools; and the staff/pupil ratio is very high, 1 to 11 pupils. The standard of life, therefore, has not been neglected. I should like to quote, if I may, from Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada: We are supporters of the British. We have been supporters of the British from the beginning and we see no wavering in that, more as a matter of principle than anything else. We just do not want boundaries to be changed by force. If it improves understanding of the Government's position, I am prepared to correct the statement and say that we are 100 per cent. behind the British". That appeared to be the view of a great many Commonwealth countries.

I should like, if I may, to mention Article 24 (as amended by Article 13 of the Adaptation Decision), by which the United Kingdom was added to the member states of the EEC. Specified in that article as one of the countries and territories to be added to the list, in Annex IV to the EEC Treaty, as associate members was the Falkland Islands and Dependencies. I mention this particularly because I know that the noble Lord, Lord Pitt, was interested in the question of Monserrat. Monserrat, too, are included in this list so that they (as is Gibraltar) are associated members of the EEC. I think that one must remember the magnificent help given during the world wars. In the First World War £50,000 was provided in interest-free loans, as well as monies to the Red Cross and St. Dunstan's. In this case, the petition has been signed by over 1,000 Falklanders. We cannot, I suggest, let them down.

I should like to refer to a letter in The Times written by Mr. George Edinger, a man who started his career as a reporter in the Argentine. Written from the Reform Club, the letter said: I can assure … one and all that it will not contribute to friendship between us and any American-Latin country one jot to deliver up the Falkland Islands in the way we delivered up the Czechs to Hitler. These people"— the Argentinians— respect armed strength. By armed strength they won their liberty from Spain and they won their land from the luckless Indians … They are not negotiators". I suggest that it is our duty to give them what they are asking for—and that is British nationality.

Up to now I have spoken of them particularly. Now I should like to mention something which is beneficial to this country. In World War I Port Stanley provided bunkering facilities for the reinforcement of Royal Navy squadrons. In World War II the Falkland Islands were available as a naval base for the South Atlantic operations, including the Battle of the River Plate. I have just come back from Plymouth and I remember that several of the ships, including HMS "Exeter", would never have got back to this country had it not been for the help they were given in the Falklands. During the Second World War there was a British Army garrison over 1,000 strong stationed there.

Apart from their position as the strategic gateway to the Antarctic, the Falklands are strategically placed in the event of any sabotage in peace or war to the Panama Canal. That or any other such incident would result in the use of the Cape Horn route for shipping moving between the Pacific and the Atlantic. The current defence potentials are now being developed on the islands and they are faced with a continual military threat from Argentina. My Lords, I hope I have given, from the point of view of the Falklands and that of the United Kingdom, an idea of the very great value of these islands for future strategy. I beg to move that the Bill be read a second time.

Moved, That the Bill be now read a second time.—(Baroness Vickers.)

3.17 p.m.