MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands ‘under British sovereignty since 1765’, says Commissioner Drake

Commissioner Drake before taking the post in Canada was High Commissioner in Jamaica and from 2005 to 2009, UK ambassador in Chile.

British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands dates to 1765 and although Britain did not establish a permanent presence until 1833, it formally protested at sporadic Argentine attempts to assert sovereignty, points out Howard Drake, British High Commissioner to Canada.

In a letter to the Globe and Mail editor, Commissioner Drake refers to an article published in the Toronto daily, ‘Gibraltar Spat Involves Unlikely Allies’ (August 12) by Paul Waldie who argues that contrary to Gibraltar “Britain’s control over the Falklands is not governed by a treaty. The British simply took the Islands in 1883 and have held them by force. There are also just 2,500 people on the Falklands, compared with 30,000 on Gibraltar, which is an offshore tax haven and a major centre for online gambling companies”.

Commissioner Drake argues that in 1833, Britain asked a recently established Argentine garrison to leave, which it did without loss of life on either side. Britain has administered the Islands peacefully ever since, apart from the few months in 1982 when Argentina illegally occupied them. Argentina’s refusal to comply with the binding UN Security Council resolution to withdraw meant that the UK had no choice but to use force to remove Argentine troops.

Furthermore Falkland Islanders want to stay British; 99.8% of them voted that way in the March, 2013, referendum which had an overwhelming 92% turnout.

“The U.K. has pledged to defend their right of self-determination, as we have with Gibraltar. This right is enshrined in the UN Charter; it is only right in the 21st century that the inhabitants of both territories decide their own futures”, adds Commissioner Drake.

Finally, “the article (by Paul Waldie) asserts that Gibraltar is a tax haven. In fact, as a financial services centre within the European Union, Gibraltar complies with EU Directives and Regulations for financial services, taxation and money laundering”.