Northamptonshire MPs visit Falklands to understand UK military
Two MPs have visited the Falkland Islands as part of a programme to help politicians understand the UK's military capabilities.The Labour MP for Northampton South, Mike Reader, and Sarah Bool, the Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, made the five-day trip as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.The UK and Argentina went to war over the British overseas territory in 1982.Ms Bool said: "It was very moving. We went to Goose Green... that was the most profound moment for me [because] you just think about what the [soldiers] did. You have a lot of respect for our military."
The 10-week Falklands War, which claimed 1,000 lives including 255 British personnel, began when Argentina's military dictator, Leopoldo Galtieri, ordered an invasion of the islands. Britain, under Margaret Thatcher's government, sent a naval task force to reclaim them. Although Argentina surrendered, it still asserts sovereignty over the Falklands, located 300 miles off its coast.
'Such an honour to go'
The MPs were part of a group of 12 politicians selected to go to the Falklands.Hosted by British Forces South Atlantic Islands, they took part in rifle and pistol training with The Royal Gurkha Rifles, toured HMS Forth, and visited Bristow to learn about operations in the region.Mr Reader said: "It was such an honour to go. Within the first day we had a lot of briefings about the significance of why we were there. But it is quite a remote place. It took us 18 hours to get there."It's such a privilege. There's no better way to understand our military."Ms Bool added: "We were offered the opportunity to go out to the Falklands so that we could understand our defence capabilities out there. "You get to talk to the troops and so you get a very different view of it."
Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
16 minutes ago
- NBC News
Prince William says ocean conservation is a challenge like no other ahead of U.N. summit
The third U.N. Ocean Conference opens Monday, with Britain's Prince William among those raising the pressure on nations to turn decades of promises into real protection for the sea. The summit comes as just 2.7% of the ocean is effectively protected from destructive extractive activities, according to the nonprofit Marine Conservation Institute. That is far below the target agreed under the '30x30' pledge to conserve 30% of land and sea by 2030. Atop this year's agenda is ratification of the High Seas Treaty. Adopted in 2023, the treaty would for the first time allow nations to establish marine protected areas in international waters, which cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and are largely ungoverned. Speaking ahead of the conference, Britain's Prince William said Sunday that rising sea temperatures, plastic pollution and overfishing were putting pressure on fragile ecosystems and the people who depend on them. 'What once seemed an abundant resource is diminishing before our eyes,' William, heir to the British throne, told the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco. He described the challenge as being 'like none we have faced before'. 'Put simply: the ocean is under enormous threat, but it can revive itself. But, only if together, we act now,' he told the meeting of investors and policymakers. Mauro Randone, regional projects manager at the World Wildlife Fund's Mediterranean Marine Initiative, said that 'it's the Wild West out there with countries just fishing anywhere without any sort of regulation, and that needs to change.' 'The high seas belong to everyone and no one practically at the same time, and countries are finally committing to establish some rules,' he added. The ocean is critical in stabilizing Earth's climate and sustaining life. It generates 50% of the oxygen we breathe, absorbs around 30% of carbon dioxide emissions and captures more than 90% of the excess heat caused by those emissions. Without a healthy ocean, experts warn, climate goals will remain out of reach. The treaty will only come into force once 60 countries ratify it. As of Monday, just 32 countries had. Advocates hope UNOC can build enough momentum to cross the threshold, which would allow for the first official Oceans Conference of Parties. 'Two-thirds of the ocean is areas beyond national jurisdiction — that's half our planet,' said Minna Epps, director of global ocean policy at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 'We cannot possibly protect 30% of the ocean if it doesn't include the high seas.' South Korea, France and the European Union have championed the treaty, but most large ocean nations have yet to ratify it, including the rest of the G20. Thousands of attendees are expected in Nice, from delegates and heads of state to scientists and industry leaders. The United States has yet to confirm a formal delegation. Beyond new commitments, the conference highlights the growing gap between marine protection declarations and real-world conservation. France, the conference co-host, claims to have surpassed the 30% target for marine protection. But environmental groups say only 3% of French waters are fully protected from harmful activities such as bottom trawling and industrial fishing. 'The government declares these as protected areas, but this is a lie,' said Enric Sala, founder of the National Geographic Pristine Seas marine reserve project. 'Most of it is political box-ticking. It's all paper parks.' That criticism is echoed across the continent. A new World Wildlife Fund report found that although more than 11% of Europe's marine area is designated for protection, just 2% of E.U. waters have management plans in place. Fabien Boileau, director of marine protected areas at France's Office for Biodiversity, acknowledged the presence of bottom trawling in French protected areas, but said it was part of a phased strategy. 'In France, we made the choice to designate large marine protected areas with relatively low levels of regulation at first, betting that stronger protections would be developed over time through local governance,' he said. 'Today, we're gradually increasing the number of zones with stricter protections within those areas.' Advocates say industrial fishing lobbies continue to resist stricter protections, despite evidence that well-managed reserves boost long-term fisheries through the 'spillover effect,' whereby marine life flourishes in nearby waters. 'Protection is not the problem — overfishing is the problem,' Sala said. 'The worst enemy of the fishing industry is themselves.' The conference will feature 10 panels on topics such as blue finance, sustainable fisheries and plastic pollution. Deep sea mining is expected to feature in broader discussions, while small island states are likely to use the platform to advocate for increased climate adaptation funding. The outcome of these discussions will form the basis of the Nice Ocean Action Plan, a declaration of voluntary commitments to be adopted by consensus and presented at the United Nations in New York this July. 'There cannot be a healthy planet without a healthy ocean,' said Peter Thomson, U.N. special envoy for the ocean. 'It's urgent business for us all.'
The National
an hour ago
- The National
BBC bosses draw up plans to win trust of Reform UK voters
Minutes from a meeting of the broadcaster's editorial guidelines and standards committee from March show that BBC News CEO Deborah Turness gave a presentation in which she discussed plans to alter "story selection" and "other types of output, such as drama" to win the trust of Reform voters. The minutes, which were reported by The Byline Times, also show the committee identified "the importance of local BBC teams" to their plan to win over supporters of Nigel Farage. There is reportedly a belief that the coporation's news and drama output is creating "low trust issues" with Farage backers. The minutes states: "The CEO, News and Current Affairs provided the Committee with a presentation on plans to address low trust issues with Reform voters. READ MORE: Richard Murphy: What to expect from Rachel Reeves's spending review "The committee discussed the presentation. Committee members recognised the importance of local BBC teams in the plan, given their closeness to audiences. "Directors discussed how story selection and other types of output, such as drama, also had a role to play. An update on progress would return to a future meeting." The committee includes former GB News executive Robbie Gibb, who is also a former director of communications at Number 10 and an outspoken Brexiteer. Gibb was appointed to the board by former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021. He was identified by former BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis in 2022 as an 'active agent of the Conservative party'. Farage has repeatedly used his own GB News platform to attack the BBC, calling it a 'political actor' and threatening to boycott the corporation. In language also used by the BBC Editorial Committee, the Reform leader suggested that BBC editors were using 'story selection' in order to target his party. In an incident last year, Farage refused to appear on the BBC until the broadcaster apologised for allowing members of the public to ask him questions during a special episode of Question Time. READ MORE: UK sends spy plane over Gaza as Madleen threatened by Israel Byline Times said BBC staffers it spoke to are concerned about the plan to win over Reform voters, due to the risk of increasing allegations of bias. The BBC has previously been criticised by some viewers for heavily featuring Reform UK politicians on its programmes, despite the party only having a handful of MPs. In July last year, sociology professor Tom Mills – author of The BBC: The Myth of a Public Service – claimed the BBC were giving such a platform to Farage because they are such a big part of a 'political establishment which has drifted to the right'. 'I think the simple answer to why they [the BBC] like Nigel Farage is they are much more comfortable with an anti-establishment figure on the right than the left. It's as simple as that," he said. 'He's on their political spectrum and the political spectrum for the BBC runs from the centrists out to Nigel Farage. 'They still see those guys [like Farage] as being rogue figures of the establishment, but they are just given legitimacy by the fact that there's lots of voices they [the BBC] see to be legitimate in these media organisations which speak from a similar sort of perspective.' The BBC has been approached for comment.
New Statesman
an hour ago
- New Statesman
Rachel Reeves wants to teach her critics a lesson
Photo by Hannah McKay -. The toughest job in politics is usually said to be the leader of the opposition – an impression that Kemi Badenoch's tenure has done nothing to dispel. But it is arguably rivalled by that of chancellor. Every incumbent since the 2008 financial crisis has faced a version of the same dilemma: the UK is a poorer country than it once expected to be. At last year's Budget, Rachel Reeves escaped her fiscal straitjacket through two manoeuvres: she raised taxes by £41.5bn and loosened her debt rules to increase investment. The Spending Review is the moment at which the Chancellor gets to distribute the bounty that resulted. Reeves has already launched a pre-emptive strike against critics who liken her to the flinty George Osborne. A graph shows how Labour's spending far exceeds that planned by the Conservatives before the election (one aide calls it 'the honesty chart'). This isn't just spin: Reeves intends to increase day-to-day spending by £190bn – the biggest real-terms rise since Gordon Brown occupied the Treasury in 2000 – and capital investment by £113bn. Austerity this is not. But two things can be true. Yes, overall spending is rising by £303bn but some must lose in order that others may win. The latter includes the NHS – which has secured a 2.8 per cent real-terms rise – and defence (even if plenty regard 2.5 per cent of GDP as inadequate). Ed Miliband's energy security department will enjoy a large increase in capital investment including on nuclear power (allies point to the Energy Secretary's long-standing support for the sector as part of 'the sprint for clean energy abundance'). Other departments, however, face average real-terms cuts of 0.3 per cent to day-to-day spending. Hence the fraught negotiations of the last week. Angela Rayner – that former trade union negotiator – reached a settlement with Reeves last night having warned that cuts to affordable housing would render Labour's target of building 1.5 million new homes impossible. Yvette Cooper – who knows her way around the Treasury as a former chief secretary – is still holding out. After public dissent, the police will receive a real-terms increase but this will entail cuts to other Home Office areas. Last week I detailed Andy Burnham's rhetorical fusillades against the government. This week it's Sadiq Khan who is unhappy, with concern inside City Hall that Reeves will announce no new projects or funding for London at the Spending Review (key demands include Docklands Light Railway and Bakerloo line extensions, a tourist/visitors levy and a significant rise in funding for the Met Police). 'We must not return to the damaging, anti-London approach of the last government, which would not only harm London's vital public services, but jobs and growth across the country,' one person close to the Mayor tells me. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Here is further evidence of why some inside government believe that Reeves needs an 'economic reset' – abandoning her tax lock or further loosening her fiscal rules. But the Chancellor will have a message for such critics in her speech, which aides describe as a chance to 're-educate' these errant foes. Rewriting the UK's fiscal rules, Reeves will warn, would not be a cost-free choice, but one that would entail higher borrowing and higher mortgage rates. An ally speaks of a 'terrifying' gap between a commentariat that pleads for more taxes and more borrowing, and a much more sceptical electorate. 'They think we tax too much, they think we borrow too much, and a lot of people probably think we spend too much.' The Chancellor is seeking to pull off a tricky double act – assailing those who accuse her of austerity while reassuring those who fear Labour profligacy. This week will test whether she can keep her balance. This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here [See also: Rachel Reeves wants to level up your commute. Does she have the money?] Related
