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Falkland Islands: Brits Think Oil Makes Territory Worth Defending, Poll Shows

Falkland Islands

Huffington Post UK   First Posted: 9/02/2012 17:42 Updated: 9/02/2012 17:47

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A majority of Britons think the dispute over the Falklands is more about oil than the rights of the islanders, but also agree that potential mineral wealth makes them worth defending.

A poll conducted by ComRes for ITV News published on Thursday revealed that 53% of those asked thought the UK and Argentinian government's were more concerned about securing the rights to mineral resources than the islands themselves.

Only 16% thought London and Buenos Aires' primary concern was the islanders.

However a majority of people, 43%, thought the British government was right to try to keep control of the islands "due to the economic and geographic benefits which the Islands give" - compared to 21% who thought that would be wrong.

The diplomatic friction between Argentina and Britain has intensified since 2010, when London authorised oil prospecting in the waters around the islands.

However in January the then energy secretary Chris Huhne described the initial results from oil exploration in waters around the Falklands as "disappointing".

The poll was carried out on 20-22 January, since when the diplomatic temperature has been raised significantly.

Argentina has condemned the Royal Navy's decision to deploy an advanced destroyer to the region as well as the arrival of Prince William on the islands.

David Cameron stressed today that Britain would "defend the Falkland Islands properly" in response to Argentina complaining to the UN about Britain "militarising" the South Atlantic.

London has consistently argued that it is up to the residents of the islands to determine who they want to be governed by. A view backed by 76% of those asked by ComRes.

A majority of those surveyed, 61%, agreed that the British government should keep "all options open" including taking military action when responding to any possible threat of a Falklands invasion.

However, 43%, also felt David Cameron was "making an issue" of the Falkland Islands in order to divert attention away from the state of the British economy. While 32% disagreed.

Last week the Argentinian president accused the British government of increasing the rhetoric over the islands in order to distract from internal problems.

"It seems the population is having a bad time and they are trying to cover up that situation with this bravado," vice-president Amado Boudou said in early February.

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A majority of Britons think the dispute over the Falklands is more about oil than the rights of the islanders, but also agree that potential mineral wealth makes them worth defending. A poll conduc...
A majority of Britons think the dispute over the Falklands is more about oil than the rights of the islanders, but also agree that potential mineral wealth makes them worth defending. A poll conduc...

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SussexRokx
0 Fans
15:46 on 13/02/2012
I really love it when people say we can no longer defend the Falklands because we haven't got an aircraft carrier. In 1982 there was just a token defence force of a mere 40 Royal Marines. Now? 1200 service personnel, weapons, Rapier missiles, the latest destroyer, a nuclear powered (but not nuclear armed) submarine, Typhoons, Sea Kings, Hercules, VC10 etc. plus a fully trained Falkland Islands Defence Force. We don't need a task force anymore! For anyone who says we wouldn't have air superiority, our planes merely have to take off from the islands, theirs have to fly at least 300 miles to get there then pretty much fly back again immediately, and they're no match against Typhoons.
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mariacafferty
1 Fans
11:43 on 12/02/2012
I am from Brazil originally, we all know that Argentina never caared about its peopel, internal problems, making the country to porsper, all they like to manage are wars, feuds, and donwnsizing morally other countries. They had big chances of groth and they never cared about it. All this now is propaganda so the Argentinians forget how poor they Country is due to mismanagement of successive amanagement.
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ceonwulf
1 Fans
20:18 on 11/02/2012
Well it's not just about Oil is it!!
Mr Rothschild and his Rio Tinto is going to be the reason many young cannon fodder will perish for the stinking Rich .
Lambs to the slaughter.
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GearoidOD
29 Fans
17:40 on 11/02/2012
No of course oil doesnt make it worth defending the Malvinas......oops sorry, Falklands, but it does make it imperative that one defends the Falklands on principle !
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Jocklander
6 Fans
16:38 on 11/02/2012
Englnd will need a new source of oil when Scotland becomes independent as we will be keeping ours
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tetleys
26 Fans
16:42 on 11/02/2012
Keep it then, tho i presume you wont want to save it all at the bottom of the garden and may be looking to sell it? Therefore England will get the oil it requires, from North sea oil or elsewhere.
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jacksmith1
1 Fans
23:35 on 02/03/2012
Scotland will need to sell its oil to avoid turning into Greece, when you take on your share of the £1 trillion debt that will be passed on!
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WestCountry12
0 Fans
15:22 on 11/02/2012
This is all about oil,with the Islanders second.

The Argies and her allies would be foolish to even think about an invasion. They would come off worst,as the UK still has some clout.

Crying to the UN is pointless too. The Islands have never been the Argies,so i do not know where they get that idea from. The UK inherited the Islands off the Spanish in a deal many years ago.

The Argies are just sabre rattling as we approach the 30th year of the war ending.
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xtal
2 Fans
14:36 on 11/02/2012
Any debate about whether we should defend the Falklands is academic - because we can`t. The UK used to have the most powerful navy in the world. Now we have a few submarines, a handful of destroyers and NO aircraft carriers. Forget it. The Swiss have probably got a bigger navy and they are landlocked.
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transficks
0 Fans
12:43 on 11/02/2012
The Falklands were worth defending before oil came into the equation and questions posed in this way are both damaging and misleading !
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esso man
43 Fans
11:42 on 11/02/2012
NO oil contributes 1.0 percent THE other 99.0% is the population WHICH IS !!
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geoff ward
20 Fans
01:38 on 13/02/2012
Do you work for ESSO by any chance. Sorry, couldn`t reseist mein kamp.
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esso man
43 Fans
02:38 on 13/02/2012
actually I used to own 4 filling stations / garage / repair shops & we had Esso fuel on the forecourts so the nickname was esso man & it stuck,even the grandchildren call me either addad or esso man,but that was way back in the 1980/90s !!
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transficks
0 Fans
20:54 on 10/02/2012
The Falklands where worth defending before oil became part of the equation and slanted questions like this are damaging and misleading !
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knowlsey
8 Fans
18:50 on 10/02/2012
A majority of Britons think the dispute over the Falklands is more about oil than the rights of the islanders

where on earth do you get your info from, and to what audience do you target your polls at, 16 year old students????

For those that were around at the time of the first war with argintina, there was no oil in question,the islanders wanted to stay under british rule and protection
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Syni Cal
42 Fans
16:59 on 11/02/2012
Check the British Nationality Act 1981 and consider that the UK government wanted a fight, it worked very well & 30 years later we still have a majority people who don't understand what the war was really about.
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ceonwulf
1 Fans
20:33 on 11/02/2012
Without prejudice knowlsey,but six months before Argentina invaded Thatcher offered to lease the Falklands to them.
.The Rothschilds had mineral rights ,and i guess that's why we went to war.Only the Controlled Media say the islanders wanted to remain British.
We all know what lies Politicians spew from their poisoned guts.Many Brits and fellow Europeans are finding work in Argentina today.
I reckon those squirmy two faced creeps Cameron and Hague should be the first to go ashore if the Argies take the islands.
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GearoidOD
29 Fans
20:42 on 11/02/2012
And they should bring along some of the wealthy tax exiles the Tories are so fond of - could set up a new tax haven for Tory donors.
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tetleys
26 Fans
17:47 on 10/02/2012
I see the Argies are very quiet about the 3 islands they claim from Chile in the Beagle Channel, which they had planned to invade in 1977! (and indeed had a limited conflict over in the 60s and 70s) But then again the Argies are scared of Chile nowadays as they have a good offensive capabilty in its Navy and Air Force, and they are next bloomin door. Oh and theres no oil on them there Islands. Argentina, grow up, be quiet, you were not even a soverign nation when the islands were discovered in 1592 (you got indpendance in 1815 so keep the noise down)
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silverline
0 Fans
12:47 on 11/02/2012
Please, get your historical facts straight.
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tetleys
26 Fans
14:29 on 11/02/2012
Why, they arent wrong, please do some research, its actualy quite fun and education.
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tetleys
26 Fans
16:31 on 11/02/2012
Sorry 1978, called operation Sobernia, to invade the Islands of Picton, Nueva and Lennox, all owned by Chile, and the Invasion was cancelled at the last minute as the Argies new they would be beaten. Next please silverline!!
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mariacafferty
1 Fans
11:46 on 12/02/2012
Argentina can not claim the Faulkland Islands because is near Argentina. so France is going to claim the channel islands are they?
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quillpusher
0 Fans
16:38 on 10/02/2012
One question nags me and that is the British defence Forces are so shrunken that any attemp to defend the islands is pie in the sky.
Does the Royal Navy have an aircraft carrier?
Of course it's all about oil. It's the same old story be it Middle East oil, South Atlantic oil or Scottish oil.
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tetleys
26 Fans
17:43 on 10/02/2012
The islands are adequetly defended at this time, against the Argies limited offensive capabilty, 1 Falklands guardship (Destroyer or a Frigate) 4 Typhoons, 1 air defence Bty, 1 Artillery Bty, 2 Rifle companies, and over 500 more assorted support troops. The Falklands long term defence rests on reinforcment, which as troops allocted from the UK, the lead elements can be flown to RAF Mount Pleasent within 24 hours es as neccessary. But you are correct insofar that now oil has been discovered, they will be defended that little bit harder by UK PLC.
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quillpusher
0 Fans
18:09 on 10/02/2012
Poor UK PLC, no longer a world power, and has not been for decades. But the myth lingers on in the mind. It lingers even now when the 'breakup of Britain' could well be on the cards. The sun has long set on the Empire apart from the occasional rocky crag or island.
The fact is that UK PLC is only a comparatively insignificant off shore island itself, just 20 miles from main land Europe.
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Chiefy17242011
Cyber-Nat, Cyber-Democrat
129 Fans
20:22 on 10/02/2012
The Type 45 (Daring) on her way at the moment would on her own (with two sets of reloads) have adequate capacity to splash not only the combat elements of the Argentinian Air Force and Naval Aviation but also those of Brazil and Uruguay if they decided to join in.

Their Navies are almost in as bad a state as the Royal Navy.

The Argentinians are sabre-rattling for home consumption. They could no more take the islands than Greater Manchester Fire Brigade could.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GingerlyColors
This is what goes around, and comes around
27 Fans
13:29 on 10/02/2012
I have made many posts regarding the unfortunate situation between Britain and Argentina. Most of the correspondents have stated that the Islands are British and should be defended, something which I agree with while suggesting that some of the mineral rights could be discussed. What we seem to be forgetting is that there are another group of islands that wish to remain British. The British Isles of course. Following the defeat of Germany in 1945, we have seen our sovereignty slowly whittled away by a German-dominated EU. People voted for Common Market membership in 1975 on the grounds that there was going to be no erosion of sovereignty. Since then most of our laws along with frustrating rules and regulations regarding employment, how we deal with terrorists and the shape of our bananas have come from the EU. Yes, lets negotiate with the Argentinians but at the same time WE demand a referendum on EU membership, then get out of Europe, take back sovereignty of our country and recover our fishing grounds and mineral rights around British shores. It seems hypocritical to worry about a bit of British territory 8000 miles away when we are giving away what we have left here.
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headsey
1 Fans
12:56 on 10/02/2012
a lot off men died english and argentinian to prove a point.
the point being that the falklands people want to remain under the british flag.
and in honour of all the people who have died we have to stand up for them.
the only way to change anything is by negotiation and the people to be involved in their future.
surely they should have the rights to any oil,minerals or other valuable assets and share their wealth and anything else with who they want to.
if they chose to stay under english rule.
so be it.god bless all the sevicemen and women who have died for this cause.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Allyb999
50 Fans
18:12 on 11/02/2012
Only English men died?
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DPICT
21 Fans
18:35 on 11/02/2012
Yeh the Scot's/Welsh etc come back to life eh, or is it that we don't matter perhaps?
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headsey
1 Fans
20:35 on 11/02/2012
WHO WAS ON THE BELGRANO????????????????????////
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