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Falklands celebrating 30 years of the Fishery that transformed the Islands

Friday, October 28th 2016 - 14:28 UTC
Full article 78 comments

The Falklands Islands are recalling a milestone decision for the development and transformation of the economy of the country. On October 29, 1986 a Proclamation declaring the Interim Falklands Conservation and Management Zone was signed by Governor Gordon Jewkes. Director of Natural Resources, John Barton pointed out at a presentation on Wednesday evening to mark 30 years of Falkland Fisheries. Read full article

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  • Brit Bob

    But the Argentinians claim they own the waters around the Falklands?

    Yo ho ho.

    Falkland Islands - Territorial Waters: https://www.academia.edu/10574593/Falklands_Islands_Territorial_Waters

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 03:00 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
  • arglands

    Who cares what Argentina claims....they own nothing regarding the Falkiands

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 03:41 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
  • Think

    TWIMC

    “Mr. Barton estimates that the annual fishing catch was worth over £225 million to the fishing companies.”

    Mr. Think estimates that them Engrish squatters owe Argentina...: £225 million x 30 = £6,750 million...

    Don't worry Kelpers...
    We will deduce it from the indemnization HMG will pay for your relocation...

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 04:20 pm - Link - Report abuse -6
  • Marti Llazo

    “Who cares what Argentina claims....”

    It seems as though in the 1980s Argentina learned very little from its humiliating defeat in the Falklands war of 1982. In the years that followed the war, Argentina continued to arrest fishing boats in the Falklands region that were in waters outside of its [Argentina's] jurisdiction. They even issued a stamp that showed Chilean Cape Horn as part of Argentine territory. It was not until 1984 and the return of democracy to Argentina that the Casi Guerra (The Almost-War) was resolved, following not one but two papel decisions in favour of Chile by putting the measure to a vote in Argentina to agree to a treaty with Chile. This reaffirmed historical Chilean possession of the three small islands in the Beagle Channel which Argentina had attempted to seize during its aggression and planned invasion of Chile in 1978. Small wonder that Chile still keeps its best main battle tanks near the frontier with Argentina, and has dragged its feet for so long in removing the minefields that have protected southernmost Chile against Argentine aggression. So yes, it still matters what Argentina continues to “claim.”

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 04:41 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Voice

    Enforced by UK patrol boats I would imagine...
    Another UK freebie to line the pockets of British tax avoiders...

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 10:54 pm - Link - Report abuse -7
  • Think

    :-)))

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 11:04 pm - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Roger Lorton

    Think has another think coming LOL

    Here's to the next 30 years :-)

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 11:06 pm - Link - Report abuse +2
  • Marti Llazo

    If we might wish to address Voz and discuss the misuse of tax monies, I propose that we consider the Argentines of Tierra del Fuego who not only produce very little of any value in those phony assembly plants, but pay almost nothing in taxes, while receiving enormous benefits paid through public monies collected from the rest of the country. (But no worries: Tierra del Fuego will be returned to Britain within 25 years; look at the map).

    Contrast this with the billions of pounds/dollars in value that the Falkland Islands and surrounding basin now represent for both the islanders and the UK.

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 11:09 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Voice

    ...and WTF does Tierra del Fuego got to do with me...?
    Is it my UK tax money supporting Tierra del Fuego now...?
    Since when has the Falklands changed from a tax liability for the UK to an asset...?
    I'd like to see the balance of the books that you appear to be privy to...

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 11:28 pm - Link - Report abuse -6
  • Roger Lorton

    Your tax money isn't supporting anything in the Falklands other than the military base, which is there for more reasons than just that archipelago.

    As for the fishery patrols, they are fully operated and financed by the FIG from their own earnings.

    The Islands have never been a 'tax liability' for the UK, and as part of the gateway to the Antarctic, can only be viewed as an asset.

    You made the claims Voice - you prove them.

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 11:32 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Voice

    Who enforces the zone....?
    Don't try and tell me that the mighty powerful FIG enforces it....
    We all know it was the UK navy that enforced it...
    The FIG might patrol, but they have no clout...
    What would they do...give the fishing vessels a good shouting at....?
    So the UK had spent billions for a gateway to the Antarctic and how is that an asset when every country in the world does not recognise UK ownership...
    You have a strange view of what an asset is...

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 11:42 pm - Link - Report abuse -9
  • Roger Lorton

    Yes, Voice, the FIG enforce it.

    Try doing some research before venting your spleen.

    As for the Antarctic, our claims are recognised by all the other claimants except Argentina and Chile who came a little late to the game. Currently 'frozen' by the Antarctic Treaty. When (not if) that breaks, you'll be watching you tax money disappear with speed....

    Oct 28th, 2016 - 11:51 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Voice

    Talking out of your arse...the FIG enforces it with what...?
    HMS Clyde...?
    THE USA, Russia, China does not recognise UK Sovereignty in the Antarctic along with the other 181 countries....
    Show me where they do...
    Billions thrown at the Falklands over the last 30 years...now show me the return for all that UK TAX money spent....

    FYI...
    ”Her Majesty’s Government and the British Foreign Office had provided, “a great deal of support to the fishery over the years,” said Mr Barton, “certainly at the outset when it all started in 1986/87, during some of the difficult decisions such as the arming of fishing protection vessels and during 15 years of the SAFC” (South Atlantic Fisheries Commission), the body created for the conservation of fisheries with the collaboration of Argentine.

    Ha there's another one a bit further back where Barton mentions how the fishing industry could not be enforced without UK support...
    What is the point in looking when we all know there would be no industry without the UK Big stick patrols...
    All done for the benefit of lining a few....I was going to say expat..but they are not even expat British business men....let's call then part timers...
    How many fish pies do the UK based business's have their fishy fingers in now..?

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 12:47 am - Link - Report abuse -8
  • Jo Bloggs

    Thanks for your support Voice, we truly appreciate it.

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 02:18 am - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Roger Lorton

    Read my words carefully Voice - the other Antarctic claimants........ The US, Russia & China have not made claims.

    Billions? No. Nothing thrown at the Falklands which have been self-financing for decades. Start-up costs have been repaid and the FIG operate the fisheries protection vessels. The SAFC was an arrangement coming out of the 1989/90 negotiations and was funded by the British Government which had agreed to it.

    Any money is thrown at the defence of that archipelago, the sub-Antarctic Islands and our claims in Antarctica. Unless, of course, you actually have some evidence to the contrary.

    Do you actually believe that your taxes would be less if we were not protecting British territory around the world?

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 02:35 am - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Marti Llazo

    UK, France, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand all recognise each other’s claims in Antarctica. Five of the original Consultative Parties (Belgium, Japan, South Africa, the
    USA, and former USSR) to the Antarctic Treaty refuse to recognize the territorial claims of the
    seven so-called claimant nations but these preserved their rights to make territorial claims there in the future.

    Nobody of any consequence recognises Argentina's come-lately claim, which has neither merit nor substance.

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 02:54 am - Link - Report abuse +6
  • Roger Lorton

    I should add, following comments elsewhere with regards to the costs immediately following the 1982 war. that the costs of rebuilding were paid by the Treasury. 31 million was the figure which was mentioned on another thread. This had been a proposal by officials and was mentioned by Freedman in the 'Official History'. How much those costs eventually came to I am not certain - I have asked but have not yet received a reply. Those costs undoubtedly fell on the taxpayer, but then (as highlighted in the first Shackleton report) the Treasury had been making a profit from the Falklands.

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 03:14 am - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Marti Llazo

    The UK annual defence budget allocated for protection of the Falklands is a great deal less than what Argentina spends each year on signs found on its public transport and frontier crossings which (falsely and futilely) proclaim “Las Malvinas son argentinas.”

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 03:27 am - Link - Report abuse +7
  • Marcos Alejandro

    “The decline of Falkland Islands penguins in the presence of a commercial fishing industry
    - Published 2002 in Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 75: 805-818.”

    http://www.seabirds.org/revista.htm#bookmark1

    Celebrating? 30 years of the Fishery that transformed the Islands..

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 04:50 am - Link - Report abuse -8
  • Jo Bloggs

    Is that the best you can do Mike? Post your own 14 year old, discredited article knowing full-well that the decline in numbers you reported back then has completely reversed in recent years.

    Found any guns planted under your bed lately?

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 08:01 am - Link - Report abuse +4
  • gyforks

    Voice person, slave to money, oblivious to fair play. Not part of our nation. Go home.

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 09:00 am - Link - Report abuse +1
  • Marti Llazo

    Marquitos: “ “The decline of Falkland Islands penguins ..... 2002”

    (There was a short term algae bloom in the islands in 2002. And algae blooms are suspected in the near-ruin of some of Chile's fisheries this year: “ Chile's 'Worst Ever' Toxic Red Tide is Killing the Fishing Industry” - http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/chile-s-worst-ever-toxic-red-tide-killing-fishing-industry-n575381 )

    “ Gentoos top the penguin charts as seabirds return in record numbers....2009 ..... Gentoo penguins are returning to the Falklands in record numbers, after their best breeding season in more than ten years. ”

    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/chile-s-worst-ever-toxic-red-tide-killing-fishing-industry-n575381

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 12:47 pm - Link - Report abuse +7
  • Jo Bloggs

    Marti Llazo

    Don't expect any response from Marcos aka Mike Bingham. He'll just hide for a while and then post links to more articles at least 5 years old.

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 02:15 pm - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Marti Llazo

    Voice wonders, a bit unconsciously, “ Is it my UK tax money supporting Tierra del Fuego now...?”

    And the answer of course is yes, and for quite some time. Because of the EU, millions of pounds from the UK are provided to Argentine national coffers which in turn pay the subsidies in Argentine Tierra del Fuego. And this issue of course is one of many that convinced the good voters to leave the EU.

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 02:44 pm - Link - Report abuse +8
  • merlin

    Tierra Del Fuego will be returned to Britain within 25 years.
    R

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 02:47 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Briton

    What price can you put upon Freedom,
    As long as it is required, the Falkland's will be protected,

    Perhaps these argy troll should worry abt the cost of their own military
    just because they CANT afford it,

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 08:25 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Jo Bloggs

    Marti Llazo

    Spot on!

    Oct 29th, 2016 - 09:55 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • downunder

    Well done Marti, you have got the top trifecta! :>

    Oct 30th, 2016 - 03:31 am - Link - Report abuse +3
  • georgeneurus

    Comment removed by the editor.

    Oct 30th, 2016 - 07:40 am - Link - Report abuse -6
  • downunder

    Mr Roger Lorton

    I have been reading your posts on MP for a few years now and I have always found them to be well crafted, interesting and credible.

    Your blogs and other works regarding British Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands have debunked the arguments put forward by those who support Argentina's somewhat curious claim. Reading your works has put the issue beyond doubt as far as I am concerned. But, above all, you have educated many of us regarding the historical and legal aspects of the dispute. For my part I have found the logic of your timeline and your discussion on UN law, as it applies to the Falkland’s, very informative.

    While there are other posters who also make excellent contributions to the debate, your contributions are outstanding. I am sure that the Falkland Islanders appreciate your efforts on their behalf.

    Oct 30th, 2016 - 10:43 am - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Clyde15

    georgeneurus

    Sorry, but this is an English speaking forum so before you post again, learn a bit more of the language OR post on the Spanish speaking version. Best wishes..

    Oct 30th, 2016 - 11:08 am - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Roger Lorton

    Thank you DownUnder, I feel humbled.

    Oct 30th, 2016 - 11:48 am - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Marti Llazo

    “....OR post on the Spanish speaking version....”

    Looks as though the Spanish version of the site isn't taking comments.

    Not that georgeyouranus would be any more coherent in Argentinish.

    What is this about argentos and incoherency? Something in the Fernet? High soluble lead content in the yerba? The debilitating effects of the preponderance of postalveolar fricatives in the dialect?

    Oct 30th, 2016 - 02:00 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • ALARCON

    CONGRATULATIONS.......

    Oct 30th, 2016 - 06:26 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
  • Islander1

    Voice- Falklands Fishery Patrol are armed- and gun operated by Falkland Islands gun crew and have very occasionally had to fire in anger and have arrested those vessels - and they and their companies have been fined heavily.
    Where do you think 90% of all Falkland imports come from? - UK - thus they are UK Exports of benefit to the UK economy and taxpayer.
    Most of our professional staff not available locally are recruited on contract from - UK Thus money paid to UK recruitiung agencies and these families send a fair amount of their salaries back to the UK, and a good part of their salaries will end up back into UK as savings/pensions etc - again of benefit for the Uk economy.
    Where do you think most of the oilworkers came from during both recent exploration rounds - and most of the kit?- Answer is UK.
    Where do most Islanders go on holiday to? - UK - where they spend money.

    So yes - overall post 1982 the UK economy and taxpayer has indeed benefitted from the 0.5 of one percent of total British defence Annual spend which is all the Falklands Defence costs.
    Difficult to put a figure on it - but the British Forces- army in particular - can do a lot of training and exercising in the wide open spaces down here that is pretty well impossible to do in Europe for example.

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 12:49 am - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Voice

    Islander
    I'm sure the UK treasury is bursting at the seams from the contributions of a couple of thousand people.....
    So what do you reckon the balance is compared to the billions spent since 1982....?
    I reckon a deficit of at least 95%...
    I'm so glad you think you are doing the UK tax payer a favour...
    As for open spaces...try visiting Scotland and the Isles....35,000 square miles of open isolated space...
    I often come across special forces training in the hills especially around the Nuke stocks at Coulport...doing their best to remain hidden, but not quite managing it...
    Without the expense of traveling thousands of miles...

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 01:35 pm - Link - Report abuse -5
  • Marti Llazo

    “I'm sure the UK treasury is bursting at the seams from the contributions of a couple of thousand people.....”

    World's worst economist, that Voz.

    The islands' sales of the fishery licences and the associated profits are beyond the contributions of the residents. This - for most people - should not be difficult to understand.

    Here is one that will prove even more complex for Voz to wrap his myopic vision around: some 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Falklands basin.

    Of course, that is for the future. But unlike Argentina, the islands have a future.

    Here is another shocker for the Voz: it's a common practice for many security agencies to exhibit a conspicuous presence around sensitive military sites.

    And speaking of taxes, bankrupt and impoverished Argentina is finally getting around to asking itself why it spends hundreds of millions each year to provide “free” (tax/public monies paid) university education for Bolivians, Mexicans, and other foreigners, while educational infrastructure and performance for its own citizens are crumbling.

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 03:40 pm - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Voice

    Revenue from fishery licences go into the coffers of the FIG...
    Is oil revenue going to flow into the UK tax payers pockets...I think not....

    FYI the security for those sensitive areas is civilian...
    As far as I'm aware....half a dozen eyes peering from the depths of Rhododendron bushes, blacked up and camouflaged tends to be the military special forces playing two teams catch and prey...
    They don't respond well to ...“I can see you”...
    In fact... they don't respond at all...
    What's it to you anyway...
    WTF is your interest and concern..?

    On a more worrying note...
    Only twelve brave weans so far, have chapped on the door of the Voice of Terror....this All Hallows Eve and taken their bag of treats with trembling fingers...
    I'm kinda disappointed...my Pumpkins are a sight to behold...

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 08:31 pm - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Kanye

    Stay tuned for new show coming to RT tv, “Belittle Britain”, a farce set in Dunoon.

    https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 09:28 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
  • gyforks

    Why is belittle Britain in Dunoon? Is that the worse place? Dunoon is in Scotland, and Scotland is well subsidised by England. RT TV is in Scotland and paid for by the Russians. Are these things connected?

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 09:52 pm - Link - Report abuse +2
  • Kanye

    Gy

    “Why is belittle Britain in Dunoon?

    Dunoon is in Scotland... RT TV is in Scotland and paid for by the Russians. Are these things connected?”

    Nailed it, buddy. Correct questions.

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 10:21 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
  • Voice

    Gyforks...
    I bet that's you...The Voice using your third Captainsilver account...you just can't help yourself can you...
    Idiot above RT TV is in the whole of the UK....

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 11:14 pm - Link - Report abuse -4
  • Kanye

    “Idiot above RT TV is in the whole of the UK....”

    Last I looked, tea-bagger, Scotland *is* in the UK

    Oct 31st, 2016 - 11:25 pm - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Terence Hill

    Voice, V0ice, Vestige, Think et al, sock-puppeteer, and imitator extraordinaire
    As the FIG have announced that it is their intention to shoulder the defence expenditures of the UK as regards the Islands. If and when feasible, although their cost is inconsequential.
    Falklands War Cost-Benefit Analysis
    The price of War
    ”Although the Falklands War had a very noticeable short-term impact on defence expenditure, the impact was not long-lasting. Notwithstanding the first few years after the conflict, when South Atlantic expenditure was greatly consumed by the construction of RAF Mount Pleasant (operational from 1986), the amount spent wasn't overly significant. In 1986-7, it was only 2.23% of total defence expenditure, and by 1989-90, a mere 0.33%. At their height (1982-3), the war's effects represented only 6.76% of total defence expenditure.
    http://nikdarlington.blogspot.com.br/2010/05/falklands-war-cost-benefit-analysis.html

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 01:10 am - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Voice

    Kanye
    “Stay tuned for new show coming to RT tv, “Belittle Britain”, a farce set in Dunoon.”
    https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/

    Are you some sort of fcukwit....???
    crosstalk has been around for years...
    How is it a new show...?
    Was that some sort of pathetic attempt at humour on your part...?
    Are you a dumb Yank...?
    Sounds like a Yankee humour attempt or Canadian...

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 01:45 am - Link - Report abuse -5
  • Kanye

    Mr Terry Hill has shown you to be nothing more than a divisive whining troll.

    http://nikdarlington.blogspot.com.br/2010/05/falklands-war-cost-benefit-analysis.html

    You mad now, bro?

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 03:09 am - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Think

    TWIMC

    ... The sincere opinion of an Engrish taxpayer that incidentaly concides with Mr. Voice, a Scotish taxpayer...:

    On Sunday and Monday March 10-11, 2013 a vote takes place asking the Falkland Islanders if they want the UK taxpayer to continue forking out almost £100,000 per annum for every family living on these desolate isles, when at home we have a massive unemployment problem and other important underfunded issues. No doubt the answer will be “Yes”, and this is understandable from the point of view of those who live there. When free gifts of such ample proportions are offered without ties, except a declaration of loyalty to the crown, it is a no-brainer. This funding, and much more has been going on for over 30 years.

    - Two months ago, in the New Junkie Post article reproduced below, it was argued that the wrong question was being asked of the wrong people...
    - UK taxpayers should be asked if they want to continue funding the lives of people they will most likely never meet on islands 8,000 miles away, from which there is no return. Argentina, which is much closer to the islands and has long claimed sovereignty over what it calls the Malvinas, has its own viewpoint. The vote is irrelevant, since it does not take into account the interests of Argentina.
    http://newsjunkiepost.com/2013/01/05/las-malvinas-or-the-falkland-islands-the-ugly-face-of-british-imperialism-and-its-startling-cost/#respond


    NB...:
    Very Interesting, the last comment on this article (by its author)...:

    “John Goss
    February 28, 2013 at 9:57 am
    It is fascinating to see how my comments, and other comments not supporting “British rule for the Falklands/Malvinos” viewpoint have been voted down while and those supporting British rule have been voted up since I last visited a couple of months back. I suspect trolling.”

    Rings any bells?

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 08:19 am - Link - Report abuse -1
  • Clyde15

    The majority of posts do not agree with him ! So, it must be trolling. Seems like arrogance to me.

    He thinks that has the morally correct view so if you do not agree him, you must be wrong..

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 10:22 am - Link - Report abuse +2
  • DemonTree

    Seems a bit disingenuous to describe the money as a free gift. It's not given to the Falklanders, it's spent on defence. I doubt many would vote to join Argentina even for £100,000 a year, either.

    And the downvotes are not surprising; it's an unpopular view. Same as most people in Argentina believe the islands are Argentine, most people in Britain believe they are British.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 10:34 am - Link - Report abuse +2
  • Voice

    Did you two even read the article you linked....
    Written in 2010 he reckons the UK tax payer has spent 23 Billion on the Falklands, must be well over 24 Billion now...
    The two Aircraft carriers are costing 6.2 Billion, so the UK could have had 8 built instead, which incidentally the Govt reckons they can't afford both and one may have to be mothballed...
    This does not make sense at all....

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 11:32 am - Link - Report abuse -2
  • Think

    TWIMC

    1) The Anglo-Thai and the Kelper gentlemen above, both use the plural form when speaking about the mighty “Falklands Fishery Patrol”, corps run and financed by the FIGl(eaf)...

    -Truth is there is ONLY ONE (1), 40 years old, (leased for ~2.5 million £, I believe) converted fishing boat, armed with a 20mm Oerlikon (from the 1940's) that, under no circumstances, can exceed the whopping speed of *** 7,5 knots an hour***...
    ... Thats about half the speed any current Gook fishing boat in the SW-Atlantic can sail...
    http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1771258
    As Mr. Voice correctly says, the ONLY (and very expensivo) patrolling is in the hands of the Engrish Navy boats, planes and helicopters...

    2) Mr. Joe Bloggs, a half-squidllonaire Kelper..., whose family recieves that £100, 000 yearly subsidy from the British taxpayers, plus about €25,000 of EU subsidies... speaks badly about Mr. Bingham...
    Truth is that Mr. Bingham wrote the truth...
    The penguins began to dissapear during the seventies and eighties (before that, one had to kick them bloody birds to reach the water, remember?) due to the unregulated, pirate fisheries by Asian and European fishing fleets....
    That was ONE OF THE EXCUSES the UK used tho declare a British EEZ...
    Once in British hands..., the British continued fishing as much as the previous pirates and the penguins continued dissapearing...
    Today, the penguins are, SLOWLY, returning.... MOSTLY because the local authorities FOLLOWED MR. BINGHAM RECOMMENDATIONS and banned all fisheries close to shore, allowing them breeding penguins to swim out and find food nerby for their chicks...

    3) Some posters in here seem to be inferring that the majoritiyof UK taxpayers are happy with the Malvinas Issue status quo...
    ... I Think the UK taxpayers should be asked if they want to continue funding the lives of ~2500 people on islands 8,000 miles away, from which there is no return...
    Their answer would surprise some.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 11:58 am - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Kanye

    Mr Think/Voice's concern for the English taxpayer is endearing.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 12:56 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Voice

    Above
    I am a UK Tax Payer....You are not...how valid is your opinion on how my money is spent...?
    Clue....It's not...
    If all UK tax payers were aware of just how much this white elephant has cost there would be more realistic opinions...
    This forum is hardly representative...

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 01:02 pm - Link - Report abuse -5
  • DemonTree

    Think, you really believe the same tax payers who recently voted for Brexit care more about economics than nationalism? Not to mention your sample of posters on here doesn't agree with you at all.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 01:05 pm - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Clyde15

    THINK.

    Mr. Voice, a Scotish taxpayer...

    Yes, we have established Voice is a taxpayer, paying UK taxes and living in Scotland. What we have not established is if he is Scottish.

    “Their answer would surprise some.” Yes, it would probably surprise you.
    However, you have absolutely no say in the matter..except on this forum.

    As a SCOTTISH taxpayer paying UK taxes I am quite at ease with any “subsidy” to the Falkland Islands

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/politics/403079/450m-uk-argie-aid/

    As a taxpayer, I would be more concerned with the above.


    To say that the carriers were built to protect the Falklands is rubbish.

    They were built because land based airfield concessions can be withdrawn when governments change and alliances are shifted. A carrier can operate outside country's sovereign sea limits. It adds flexibility to strategic options.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 01:45 pm - Link - Report abuse +7
  • gyforks

    Why would anyone want 8 Aircraft Carriers? Is the Voice nuts? Probably a foreign freeloader paying little tax. Not one of us.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 02:37 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Voice

    It was me that mentioned the Carriers Clyde...
    I did not say they were built to protect the Falklands, I merely mentioned that the money spent on the Falklands could have provided 8 Carriers instead of providing a couple of thousand people with pockets brimming with cash as a direct result of UK tax payers funding...
    Look at pre 1982 FIG cash surplus and present day FIG cash surplus...

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 02:44 pm - Link - Report abuse -5
  • Kanye

    Clyde,

    “Yes, we have established Voice is a taxpayer, paying UK taxes and living in Scotland. What we have not established is if he is Scottish. ”

    We haven't established Mr Voice is a UK Taxpayer.

    We have only the insistence of Mr Think and Mr Voice for that.

    It's a convenient pretext for faux indignation and criticism of UK spending regarding the Falklands.

    If you asked him directly, would Mr “Voice” claim he is a Scottish National, British Subject, or. a UK citizen, or any of the above?

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 05:01 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • The Voice

    No expense should be spared protecting our Falkland Islands from the Argie squatters. Its a great strategic military base, lots of oil potential, and a great wildlife destination too.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 07:39 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Islander1

    Think?Voice- What UK Billions since 1982? Ok I think approx. 1/2billion on building the airport,runway and naval port. Since then about ZERO - it has been made clear a billion times that there would be virtually NO savings to the Uk Annual Defence Budget and thus the taxpayer if those 1000-1200 personnel were not here in the Islands. They would just be at their bases in Uk-Europe and other deployments - still needing housing,feeding-training-exercising etc be they soldiers with rifles-pilots with planes or captains with ships.
    Hell even the cargo ship that runs their supplies here from the UK is one of 3 or 4 MOD leased -longterm as the ocean transport for the UK Battle Tanks in time of war. And a ship sitting idle for months and years soon starts to go downhill.
    So you would find that the true additional cost of maintaining those forces down here - is just a few 10s of millions a year.

    Well matched by the overall gains to the UK economy overall as explained.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 08:22 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Think

    Islander1

    You say...:
    “it has been made clear a billion times that there would be virtually NO savings to the Uk Annual Defence Budget and thus the taxpayer if those 1000-1200 personnel were not here in the Islands. They would just be at their bases in Uk-Europe and other deployments”

    I say...:
    Made clear a billion times...?
    By whom...?
    If the Monte Placentero & Puerto Yegua bases were closed and all its personnel fired, the savings for the British taxpayers would amount to about £400,000,000 ... per year...
    Closing bases and firing personell is what the MOD has been doing to save money during the last 20 years..
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10924976/Why-Britains-armed-forces-are-shrinking-by-the-day-and-does-it-really-matter.html

    Stop telling porkies..., Kelper.

    Nov 01st, 2016 - 11:18 pm - Link - Report abuse -4
  • Islander1

    Think - not sure I follow you - no idea what the connection is between Br taxpayers and a possible decision by what I assume is perhaps a S.American Govt to close a couple of its military ouposts somewhere?
    as for who has been telling us about real defence costs for years - try Conservative Govts-Labour Govts-Con/Lib Dem Coalition Govt regularily since 1985. Along with politicians from all 3 main parties - oh and the Scot Nats - and senior defence Dept staff.
    No independent units here to disband- just small groups all attatched to their main parent battalion-squadron-back in Uk or Europe. That's why we all know and accept that if the balloon were to go up in Nato- personnel and their weapons etc would pretty quickly move back north to where needed.
    Have even less idea where you get the £400m from? true figure quoted by successive UK Govts and Min of defences are around £100m - up and down a bit according to the year and what is happening.
    The article you post is old hat, been known for ages. Clearly though UK Govts have to decide, do they want to be a major world player - or not. If the former - then they have to spend the money on the forces again - politicians cannot have it both ways!
    British or Argentine ones!

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 12:49 am - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Think

    Islander1

    You say...:
    “ Think - not sure I follow you...”

    I say...:
    I'm sure you do, Islander1...
    You are a Kelper..., not a turniper...

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 02:09 am - Link - Report abuse -5
  • Roger Lorton

    Whatever the cost Think/Voice it is worth it to keep Argentina away from all that British territory in the South Atlantic and Antarctic. The British taxpayer is not complaining

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 02:00 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • The Voice

    Just noticed Think has turned into an ape! Is he trying to ape Voice? Still posting rubbish though - figures… .

    Cost of our presence in the South Atlantic possessions is peanuts. I suppose that is why they attractive to apes. :-)))

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 02:41 pm - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Think

    Lowlander... Some minor corrections to your post,10 places above..
    You say...:
    “Mr. Voice, a Scotish taxpayer...
    Yes, we have established Voice is a taxpayer, paying UK taxes and living in Scotland. What we have not established is if he is Scottish.”
    I say...:
    Mr. Voice, a SCOTTISH taxpayer indeed...
    YOU have..., without the shadow of a a doubt..., established Mr. Voice to be a Scotish taxpayer..., living in Dunoon and paying his taxes to the Riaghaltas na h-Alba through his Argyll and Butte Council Tax...
    I think he may be in Band G or higher, contributing to Alba's common wealth some £3000 a year... ( And that, excluding his Parish Charge and the upcoming second house tax ;-)
    His citizenship though... is still unknown...

    Mr. Lorton..., comment just above...
    That's one of the reasons I like you..., lad...
    Your auld fashioned sincerity and colonial sincericide...

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 02:57 pm - Link - Report abuse -5
  • Terence Hill

    Voice, V0ice, Vestige, Think et al, sock-puppeteer, and imitator extraordinaire
    The MOD doesn't now release what the cost of the Islands is. But, you're still unable to refute the fact that “defence expenditure, … by 1989-90, a mere 0.33%” Other, than the physical infrastructure, the rest of the Ministry of Defences assets are transferable as and when needed. So as they are not solely attributable to the Islands. Therefor, it is not correct to affix any permanency as to those costs to the Islanders, when they are blameless. The only party that is responsible for any added cost to the UK tax-payer, is Argentina.

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 04:09 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Anbar

    So Marcos Alenjandro is really Nike Bingham? That's priceless... explains his venting hatred and obsessive concern about an out of date piece of rather dubious “research”.

    He seems to apply as much creativity to his “research” as eh does to his history ... everything is always somebody elses fault - no wonder he ran off to Argentina... he'd fit right in there with that attitude.

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 06:19 pm - Link - Report abuse +4
  • The Voice

    Think, one doesn't live in Dunoon unless one has to. And, you or your parrot have proved nothing. Zilch!

    Nov 02nd, 2016 - 06:57 pm - Link - Report abuse +2
  • Marcos Alejandro

    Anbar
    “So Marcos Alenjandro is really Nike Bingham?”
    You're right..That's priceless

    Gordito Marti PaLlazo

    “By October 1996 plans for oil exploration around the Falklands were proceeding at a pace. Concerned that Falklands Conservation would demand protection for wildlife, the director of Desire Petroleum, Lewis Clifton, was proposed as chairman of the organisation. By law such an appointment had to be put to a vote at the Annual General Meeting, and it was clear that the director of an oil company drilling for oil would never be voted in charge of the Falklands’ only wildlife conservation organisation. With no chance of election, trustees ignored the law, and elected themselves and Clifton prior to the Annual General Meeting. This was totally illegal, and the UK Charity Commission wrote to Falklands Conservation stating that they had breached the constitution, and that the appointments were illegal, but Falklands Conservation did not reverse the appointments. The Falkland Islands' only wildlife conservation organisation was now in the hands of an oil company director, with disastrous consequences for Falklands wildlife”

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 04:32 am - Link - Report abuse -5
  • Kanye

    Thanks, Mike Bingham,

    That cinches it - you and Troll Marcos Alejandro are one and the same.

    Back to the fisheries now, this article is not about you.

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 05:32 am - Link - Report abuse +1
  • Think

    Ché Marquitos...
    Como te insultan..., Ché
    Que yó sepa..., el Mike Bingham ese es de River ;-)

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 08:33 am - Link - Report abuse -4
  • Marcos Alejandro

    Tenia que ser..tenia :-)
    You choose the wrong animal in your pic Mr.Think :-)

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 05:53 pm - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Think

    Couldn't find any chicken in Rodin's Thinker position...

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 06:08 pm - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Marcos Alejandro

    http://www.toonvectors.com/clip-art/cartoon-chicken-thinking/8810

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 06:24 pm - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Think

    That's NOT Rodins Thinkers position, bostero burro....;-)))
    This is...:
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Buenos_Aires-Plaza_Congreso-Pensador_de_Rodin.jpg/1280px-Buenos_Aires-Plaza_Congreso-Pensador_de_Rodin.jpg

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 06:37 pm - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Marcos Alejandro

    :-)))))

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 06:52 pm - Link - Report abuse -3
  • Kanye

    Mr Think/Voice

    We only have your word that you are a British taxpayer.
    Har bloody har! What's that worth?

    You might have paid VAT or perhaps a fine for bringing in contaminated produce from Argieland, that's likely about all.

    This “taxpayer” business of yours is just a convenient soapbox for pitching your divisive mutterings.

    I have to hand it to you, you're always amusing with your tales of buying other posters many times over.

    Surely, you will be receiving yet another award or accolade from the Dunoon Council for Best Drains or some such.

    Nov 03rd, 2016 - 11:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0

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