MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ debates contribution to Baroness Thatcher’s funeral costs

Half mast flags in Stanley

The UK public opinion controversy over the cost of Baroness Thatcher’s funeral has reached the Falkland Islands where a member of the public proposed a ‘six figure’ contribution towards the event from the local government.

However other members and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Islands disagreed with donating to the funeral believing it would be better spent locally to commemorate the late Baroness, and thus redirected the discussion.

But a member from a Falklands several-generation family, Tim Miller again brought up the issue in an Opinion Letter to the Penguin News. Tim argues what would have of the Falklands and their people had Margaret Thatcher not taken the much questioned decision at the time of sending a Task Force to recover the Islands. He also recalls that the ‘infamous’ Argentine Air Force Major Dowling who had a list prepared for the Islanders to be ‘removed’.  The letter follows and so does the Penguin News staff suggestion.

“I, like some others, was surprised at the total negative response from MLAs at the recent Public Meeting to this suggestion. We, the Falklands’ people, can well afford it. FIG has approximately £200 million invested of ours in various funds. One 200th of our assets will hardly break the bank nor cause any sector or group a shortage or suffering in the next year.

Every £ of our assets is thanks to the determination and strength of one single lady 31 years ago. Had she not been there who knows, we might have still been liberated, or not. There were plenty of wets in her cabinet at the time. Every person in the Islands today, Islanders and permanent residents, contractors, work-permit holders, from whatever nation would almost certainly NOT be here today, but for her stand 31 years ago.

Many of us Islanders would no doubt have long since joined the 30,000 ‘desaparacidos; after all the infamous Major Dowling already had a list prepared by June 1982 of people to be ‘removed’.

It’s a fine idea: a bust or statue in future, somewhere near the 1982 memorial, an annual scholarship, or the naming of an important place.

Actually we could afford all of those as well. They don't cost that much anyway by comparison. All are good local tributes, but, the one country that aided us in our hour of need was the UK and the one country that today is important and vital to our future still, is UK, whose people we need to be on OUR side.

The least we could do is show that we appreciate and care about it all.

In the age of internet it cannot be necessary to wait until all MLAs are back in one room, and, something like this is surely a public decision as well. We are the taxpayers and ultimate owners of those funds.

So why not a simple opinion survey to get the ball rolling?

Tim Miller Stanley Ed’s opinion: Sadly, while the idea mooted at the public meeting was well meant it is most likely that British tax payers would consider it incredibly self indulgent of Islanders to assist in funding a funeral, and would demand to know why, if the Falkland Islands Government had money to spare, it wasn’t offered towards the cost of the Islands’ defence. The latter would be perceived of greater benefit to the UK tax payer.

Ultimately, however, I don’t believe now is the time, bearing in mind recent UK benefit cuts, that FIG should be flashing money around right under the noses of the British public.

Whatever amount was offered there would always be someone who would point out that it bore no comparison to money already spent on the defence of the Islands. We could well turn out to be the whipping boys for current British public frustrations.

But how do you think Lady T should be commemorated locally?