Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Convincing

Voters in the Falkland islands have voted overwhelmingly to remain a British territory, with only 4 of 1,517 votes cast voting against. I'd say that's a convincing mandate. But the Argentine Government is refusing to accept it:
Ahead of the referendum, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had said the inhabitants' wishes were not relevant in what is a territorial issue.

To the contrary, its the only thing which is relevant. The UN recognises the principle of self-determination, and its simply unthinkable in the modern era for a democratic country to legitimately claim ownership of a territory whose people do not want to be governed in that way.

Of course, exactly the same principle applies to Scotland...