Will the Prime Minister consider the consequences of the Government's mishandling of the Falklands Crisis for quite a number of my constituents?
It is obviously quite impossible at this stage to give any estimate of the cost of the action that is being taken in response to the Falklands Crisis.
Although we have had little new information - and I do not blame the Prime Minister for being unable to give us more at this delicate moment - it has enabled us to establish a broad consensus rather more firmly and precisely than in the earlier debate on the major issues at stake in the Falklands Crisis.
Is my right hon. Friend aware that her handling of the Falklands Crisis with a combination of firmness and diplomacy has commanded the support of the vast majority of hon. Members?
The recent special conference was a nonevent, not simply because it was overshadowed by the Falklands Crisis but because everyone, including the people who were participating, knew that they were not speaking on behalf of this country's trade unionists.
It has been suggested that our ability to respond to the Falkland Crisis, or others like it, has been weakened by the Government's so-called cuts in defence spending.
While we are all, of course, still deeply concerned about the Falklands Crisis, may I return to the question that was put by my hon. Friend the Member for Dundee, West (Mr. Ross) about the other crisis on the borders of Lebanon and Israel?
On his second point, throughout the past week and, indeed, before, we have sought to keep the House fully informed of the moving dramas of the Falkland Crisis.
On the assumption that the Government want maximum publicity for their efforts in the Falklands Crisis, will the Leader of the House arrange for a statement or a debate next week on the blacking being carried out by the union ACTT?
There is nothing in it that in any way contradicts or embarrasses the Government vis-a-vis the 712 Falklands Crisis.
In the exceptional circumstances of the Falklands Crisis, I have informed the House in general terms of defence sales to Argentina since 1977.
No one yet knows what will be the long-term costs to the Government arising from the Falklands Crisis.
From the onset of the Falklands Crisis, my right hon. Friends and I have undertaken to keep the House as closely informed as possible about the situation.
Since we debated the Falklands Crisis last Thursday, there have been some important military developments.
The present heightened tension in that hemisphere as a result of the Falklands Crisis will be carefully considered by the Government in any decision about the presence of the garrison.
The excitement over the Falklands Crisis has obscured the fact that this month unemployment has again exceeded 3 million.
Does he agree that the House should also exercise moderation, and that we should not have too many statements and debates on the Falklands Crisis, which must make diplomacy difficult and certainly do not help the task force?
It is encouraging that interest rates have so far stood up so well to the Falklands Crisis.
The House might like to reflect upon the fact that it is almost two weeks since we last had a debate on the Falklands Crisis.
I never have taken part in debates on the Falklands Crisis.
Wisely, the House has taken the view that there should be a series of debates on the Falklands Crisis.
Although this is the fifth debate on the Falklands Crisis since the beginning of April, we have willingly agreed.
Conservative Members have done a disservice to themselves, to the House and to democracy by criticising the coverage given to the Falklands Crisis by the BBC.
I have sat through all the debates hitherto on the Falklands Crisis.
I am not for any military escalation in the conflict, but there should be no misunderstanding: the most effective way that Britian could be isolated over the Falkland Crisis would be if we were to act recklessly, and escalate the war.
I accept that the Labour Party may be losing votes - for all I know, it did so in the local elections last Thursday - because of the Falklands Crisis.
Mr. Trotter asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether Service men involved in the Falklands Crisis will be able to make a claim against his Department in respect of the losses incurred by them through the cancellation of holiday arrangements for Service reasons where such loss is not covered by insurance.
Mr. Hurd: Before the Falklands Crisis there was no reason for the French Government to inform us of the supply of aircraft and missiles to Argentina.
First, I thank the Leader of the House for arranging today's debate on the Falklands Crisis.
I disagree with my right hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) on his perception of the Falklands Crisis.
On those same grounds, can we expect the hon. Gentleman to deplore the Foreign Secretarys's criticism of the BBC for expressing its views on the Falkland Crisis?
Mr. Skinner asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are to be any changes in the sale of arms policy arising out of the Falkland Crisis.
Mr. McQuarrie asked the Secretary of State for Defence if it is his intention to retain the existing labour force in the Gibraltar dockyard during the period of the Falklands Crisis.
asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are to be any changes in the sale of arms policy arising out of the Falkland Crisis.
asked the Secretary of State for Defence if it is his intention to retain the existing labour force in the Gibraltar dockyard during the period of the Falklands Crisis.
In those circumstances, will he accept that it is essential that the labour force in Gibraltar is retained for so long as the Crisis in the Falklands exists?
It would be a disgrace if the British and Argentines who have lost their lives and those who have been injured were used as an excuse for a snap election in which the Tory Party could do well on the basis of what has happened over the Falkland Crisis.
I hope that when we return from the recess the pressures on debating time that have inevitably resulted from the Falkland Crisis will be eased so that there will be some early allocation of Supply time for the debating of those issues that are of rising concern on the Opposition Benches.
The support we have received from our Community partners in the Falklands Crisis is extremely welcome, and I hope that the House will take this opportunity to make that unmistakably clear.
He might have the decency to admit that the French Government have given unfailing support to Britain throughout the Falklands Crisis.
Our so-called Common Market partners have dallied and dillied, dillied and dallied over the sanctions issue, and, when Britain is in a corner over the Falkland Crisis, they have simply stabbed us in the back over food prices.
Is my right hon. Friend aware that I understand on good authority that since the start of the Falklands Crisis there has been in other parts of the UnitedKingdom, apart from Northern Ireland, a marked reduction in crime?
Many merchant seamen are serving loyally in the Falklands Crisis.
The Falklands Crisis and events in Poland have distracted attention from the National Health Service workers' battle on the home front.
This has been brought out by the Falklands Crisis.
I have been particularly gratified by the warm support which so many Commonwealth Governments have given us over the Falkland Crisis.
Mr. Skinner asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian vessels have been requisitioned or chartered by his Department since the outbreak of the Falklands Crisis.
984, requesting the International Court of Justice under article 96 of the United Nations Charter to give an advisory opinion on legal issues involved in the Falklands Crisis.
[That this House is gravely concerned at the news that, after the strong, warm and deserved congratulations expressed to the Forces, and the many shipbuilding and dockyard workers for their unselfish efforts during the Falklands Crisis together with the deep sorrow at the loss of many men and ships, including the 'Atlantic Conveyor', the Cunard Line are considering placing an order for the replacement of the 'Atlantic Conveyor' with a Japanese shipyard; believes that this is a strange and unpatriotic way of rewarding the workers of this country for theirrecent efforts and further notes with alarm the Minister's recent reply indicating that Her Majesty's Government who undoubtedly will be paying compensation for the loss of the 'Atlantic Conveyor', are not prepared to take any action to ensure that this order is placed in British shipyards but prefer instead to reward foreign shipyards with work when British workers' great efforts in getting HMs 'Illustrious' to sea in record time are to be rewarded by further redundancies.
The Falklands Crisis raised difficult questions in people's minds about Britain's role in the world.
As regards the other reports, the Israeli Government have given a general assurance that no new contracts for the supply of arms to Argentina would be signed while the Falklands Crisis lasted and that deliveries under existing contracts would not be speeded up.
Does my right hon. Friend find it odd that hon. Members who have argued that the Treaty of Rome and the common agricultural policy are poisoning our relations with our European allies a:7e doing their best to inject their own venom because, although the Community gave us loyal support at the worst moment of the Falklands Crisis, they now take a different view of tactics on sanctions?
Mr. Nott: There are defence lessons to be learnt from the Falklands Crisis and in the coming months we shall be working to identify the key issues.
Mr. Douglas asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the effect of the Falklands Crisis on plans for the future strength of the Royal Navy.
During the Falklands Crisis Ireland and Italy were not willing to renew sanctions imposed by the rest of the European Economic Community.
Will he inform the House whether that body was called into being during the Falklands Crisis?
Although our relations with the Republic are at present frosty, because of its deplorable behaviour over the Falklands Crisis, will my right hon. Friend confirm that this aspect of cross-border co-operation remains pre-eminent?
The first order that I intend to place following the Falklands Crisis is for new Sea Harriers.
I shall return to the Falklands Crisis later in my speech, but I must first touch on other matters.
In the immediate future much additional work must be done to repair battle and weather damage and, equally important, to catch up with the normal programme of repairs, dockings, and maintenance periods disrupted by the Falklands Crisis.
It was, I believe, in accordance with the general mood of the House that publication of the statement was delayed at the outset of the Falklands Crisis.
There is a great deal to be learnt about sea-to-air missiles, decoys, electronic counter measures, Sea Harriers and helicopters from the Falklands Crisis.
The White Paper has been overtaken by the Falklands Crisis.
Had the Falklands Crisis occurred before then, I should have been full of tribute for what happened.
It should not lead us to restate or rethink the fundamentals of our defence attitudes and policy, which I believe were more or less on the right lines before the Falklands Crisis occurred.
This defence debate, following the White Paper, comes at an especially opportune moment because it is the first time that the House is able, as was my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in his opening speech, to put the Falklands Crisis into the perspective of the entire defence scene.
It was obviously strange to publish a document that was produced before the Falklands Crisis and which therefore could not take account of all the political, technical and military lessons which had to be learnt from it.
Less obviously, but equally importantly, it must recover the normal programme of refits, dockings and maintenance disrupted by the Falklands Crisis.
However, the industrial staff who received redundancy notices at Chatham before the Falklands Crisis will have them extended if they so wish, generally by the period for which notices were suspended.
Another subject of considerable importance which has perhaps been put out of people's minds by the Falklands Crisis is our Army in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Hurd: The Italian Government gave some useful support to the United Kingdom during the Falklands Crisis.
It should have been done for a long time and not just as a result of the Falklands Crisis.
The Falklands Crisis showed that nuclear weapons cannot be used to our advantage in many—I would say all—circumstances.
Will the Prime Minister therefore confirm that she has categorically ruled out an October general election, because she realises that before any electoral contest the House and the country should be given the full facts about the causes of the Falklands Crisis and about the Government's responsibility for it?
To cut that support will now undercut our ability to have a flexible surface Fleet which, although basically and rightly designed to meet our NATO responsibilities, has nevertheless been capable of operating in other directions, as we saw in the Recent Falklands Crisis.
He said that 38 miles of rope had been produced during the Falklands Crisis by workers, all of whom have been told they will be made redundant in September.
The fact that the Labour Party is no longer credible was demonstrated throughout the Falklands Crisis - half its heart was in the right place but the rest was unable to say what needed to be said.
The Recent Falklands Crisis also produced a strong argument for the retention of a national defence industrial base with the capability of effective, flexible and rapid reaction.
Other hon. Members representing dockyard constituencies have referred to the work undertaken to meet the Falklands Crisis.
In his foreword to the White Paper, my right hon. Friend states:Only when the Falklands Crisis has been fully studied will we be in a position to take reasoned and considered decisions on what adjustments need to be made to the defence programme".
The statement fails to take account of the Falklands Crisis and many other world facts.
As my right hon. Friend reminded the House, we need only recall the cod war, the Beira patrol and the Gulf of Oman requirement, as well as the Falklands Crisis, to appreciate examples of operations arising at short notice.
Inherited from the previous Labour Government and available for the Falklands Crisis were 55 running destroyers and frigates.
Before the Falklands Crisis, around 700 special rucksacks had been sold to what Lockey terms 'specialist units' of the Army.
That we are planning to spend £14,000 million and more on defence next year is made worse by the fact that the sudden Crisis of the Falklands was solved by the expenditure - quite apart from the dreadful loss of life on both sides, which I deplored - of about £1,000 million from the Contingency Fund.
On a number of occasions - indeed, prior to the Current Falklands Crisis - I have discussed the possibilities of South Atlantic fishing with our industry.
The Falklands Crisis was solved by a considerable military success, but what preceded it cannot be called a diplomatic success.
Having watched events in the past months since the beginning of the Falklands Crisis, I have been reminded occasionally of a scene in Victor Hugo's book, "Ninety-Three", in which a sailor lets loose a great battering ram against a ship.
We saw this national virtue during the Falklands Crisis.
During the past three months Great Britain has faced the challenge of the Falklands Crisis.
Throughout the Falklands Crisis, when we needed ships and they had to be turned around quickly, men in the North-East and elsewhere worked night and day.
Is the Chancellor aware that his own central statistical office states that the figures to May are incomplete until we have the June figures, partly because of this year's exceptional incidence of the spring bank holiday and, secondly, because of the frenzied industrial activity due to the Falklands Crisis?
Why should the Government be prepared to spend huge, undisclosed sums on the Falklands Crisis by sending a task force there, but refuse to make a decent and respectable pay offer to end the low pay of NHS workers?
By April of this year, before the Falklands Crisis - there have been some changes since then - the figure was down to 86.
It has been estimated that if the decline continues at the present rate, and had the Falklands Crisis occurred at the end of the decade, there would have been very few British merchant ships left to send.
We have it on the authority of Lord Hill-Norton, former head of the Navy and Chief of Defence Staff, that if the Falkland Crisis had come three years later Britain would not have been able to muster the task force that it needed.
I believe - I think this is confirmed by the response to the Falklands Crisis - that the British people will be ready to bear whatever cost is necessary to ensure that we are adequately defended.
Is it true that only two to three weeks before the Falklands Crisis the Navy turned down a jammer which could have integrated with electronic warfare equipment?
At the beginning of the Falklands Crisis, the nation - indeed the world - was astonished not only at the speed with which the naval task force was assembled and dispatched but at the ease with which we appeared to be able to assemble a large supporting armada of merchant ships of the most varied type - passenger liners, tankers, minesweepers, tugs, ferry boats, roll-on/roll-off ships, general cargo ships and specialist ships - and all these in addition to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
We were extremely fortunate to have a naval officer as Chief of Defence Staff during the Falklands Crisis.
It is well known to my colleagues that, unlike most of them, I think, alas - I take no joy in it - that we are at the end not of the Falklands Crisis but of phase one.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Taunton went to the Lord Hill-Norton point by asking whether we could refute his Lordship's claim that, had the Falklands Crisis occurred three years or so from now, we would not have been able to meet the challenge.
Mr. Wickenden asked the Minister for Trade if he will make financial assistance available to those businesses whose finances have been adversely affected because fulfilment of sales orders from Argentina was prevented by the trade sanctions introduced during the Falklands Crisis.
I appreciate that the Prime Minister cannot personally visit Gibraltar, but will she ensure that when the Secretary of State for Defence draws up his next defence review - which we are given to understand will be published later in the year - he will take into account the use that has been made of the Gibraltar dockyard and the sterling service that has been given by the people of Gibraltar and the workers in that dockyard during the Recent Falklands Crisis?
We saw during the Falklands Crisis exactly those who would stand by us in a period of great trial.
The Department has been actively involved in measures arising out of the Falklands Crisis.
The Falklands Crisis showed the importance of our genius in this respect.
During the Falkland Crisis many of us became acutely aware of the precious skills of our pilots.
Round the Clock Working as race is on to finish warship orders … Yards respond to the Falkland Crisis.
Do not those people and their families - the men who were lionised in the press during the Falklands Crisis - have a future?
The right hon. Gentleman would agree that Mr. Malcolm Fraser's offer during the Falklands Crisis to allow us to keep HMs "Invincible", if we so wished, was extremely generous and helpful.
From my personal experience, I can tell the House that the French Government were extremely helpful to Her Majesty's Government throughout the Falklands Crisis.
The Opposition recently called upon the Prime Minister to show the same determination and courage in tackling unemployment as she showed when dealing with the Falklands Crisis.
May I congratulate my hon. right hon. Friend on surviving the harassment from behind him at the height of the commitment of young men to the Falklands Crisis, which was a period of shame for many members of the Tory Party?
That is despite all the subjects that we have discussed, the six special debates on the Falklands Crisis and the many debates on unemployment.
This country loses more lives each year through asbestos, according to the General and Municipal Workers Union, than we lost in the Falklands Crisis.
I wish, in conclusion, again to express my Department's appreciation of the co-operation of the industry during the Falklands Crisis and of the skill, determination and great courage shown by the masters and crews of the vessels who sailed in support of the task force.
My Government were deeply grateful for the support shown during the Falklands Crisis by so great a proportion of the international community, in particular by the countries of the Commonwealth, the European Community and the North Atlantic Alliance, and by the dependent territories.
In the period following the Falklands Crisis these contacts have been further developed.
Prior to the Falklands Crisis the Argentine naval commission in London handled the purchase of naval equipment.
Such is the Prime Minister's love of the Civil Service and her fear for her own political survival that even now she is trying to blame Foreign Office officials for the fact that she did not do her job properly during the Falklands Crisis.
In saying that the Falklands Crisis came out of the blue, does the Prime Minister mean that she had no warning of invasion before Wednesday 31 March?
I said that many people believed that the Falklands Crisis was caused in part by Argentina misinterpreting the withdrawal of HMs "Endurance".
I was delighted and proud that during the Falklands Crisis some of my constituents, in the Ferranti factory in my constituency, worked literally round the clock to make certain that Royal Air Force Harriers would have the capability to fly off aircraft carriers with the most advanced avionics equipment in the world.
If the Prime Minster had that knowledge, that would make her answer on Tuesday 26 October that the Falklands Crisis came "out of the blue" on Wednesday 31 March an untruth to Parliament.
Mr. Sproat: I have regular contact with British Caledonian Airlines and am well aware of the adverse financial and operational impact upon the airline of the Falkland Crisis.
If that is the case, on what basis has the Cabinet taken a decision to make the old-age pensioners pay for the Prime Minister's bungling incompetence in leading us into the Falklands Crisis?
Perhaps the most striking evidence of this was the Community's response to the Falklands Crisis.
On the one major foreign policy issue that we faced, the Falklands Crisis, we were stabbed in the back by the Common Market.
The first is the gradually strengthening political co-operation in the Community evidenced by the support given us by fellow members during the Falklands Crisis.
I hope that the Government took note of those actions during the Falklands Crisis.
It is not surprising that my first comments related to the European Community's response to the Falklands Crisis.
The Falkland Crisis: A History and Background.
Because of the effects of the Falklands Crisis, it is not known at present what level of support might be provided by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Government for the maintenance of the research base at Grytviken, South Georgia, for 1982–83 or 1983–84.
If the Falklands Crisis had occurred in two years' time, the result might have been very different.
Mr. Blaker: A number of arrangements whereby the military could make use of, for example, civil transport in time of emergency, were well established before the Falklands Crisis.
It is our view that Western interests in the region have not been significantly affected by the Falkland Crisis.
The Prime Minister: The details of our communications with the American Government during the Falklands Crisis remain confidential.
The Prime Minister: We communicated with the United States Government during the Falklands Crisis through the usual means.
We accused the Government of using the Falklands Crisis to boost defence expenditure, and the White Paper published yesterday shows how right we were.
One of the major reasons given by the company for the decision is the adverse effects caused to the company's trading by the Falklands Crisis earlier this year.
In a sense, however, I have more respect for the right hon. Gentleman and for the 30 or so Members who voted with him in the final Division on the Falklands Crisis than for those Opposition Members, including the right hon. Member for Deptford (Mr. Silkin) who opened for them today, who gave half-hearted quasi-support while constantly seeking political opportunities to sneer at the Government's motives and to score points.
In a debate about three weeks before the Falklands Crisis arose I spoke of my fears about our naval weakness.
During the Falklands Crisis it was in the House seen much less as a guarantee of security and much more as a means of obtaining political support from sometimes reluctant allies.
It has been estimated that if the Falklands Crisis had occurred at the end of the decade, and if the decline had continued at the present rate, there would be few British merchant ships left to send to the South Atlantic.
The basic lesson to be learnt from the Falkland Crisis is the cost of not implementing the Shackleton proposals mark 1.
1, she confirmed that the Falkland Crisis had come out of the blue to her on Wednesday 31 March?
1, the Prime Minister confirmed what she had said to George Gale in a major interview in the Daily Express that the Falklands Crisis - not South Georgia, or anything of that kind - had come out of the blue on Wednesday 31 March.
In a major interview with Mr. George Gale, the Prime Minister was asked:Did the Falkland Crisis come at you more or less out of the blue?
The answer to be found in the fundamental political realities that have underpinned the Falklands Crisis in the past 17 years is that there have been only two ways out of the Falklands impasse.
This was the Prime Minister who said that the Falklands Crisis all came as a bolt from the blue when, in fact, it came in a minute in a red box a month before the invasion.
In 10, 15 or 20 years' time this Session may not be remembered so much for turbulences in the foreign exchange market, or even the Falklands Crisis and its aftermath, as for the extent to which the procedures, particularly the financial procedures, of the House were reformed.
584–86]—since the Falklands Crisis we have made clear to the German Government that we would be concerned about early delivery of frigates to Argentina.
As we realised during the Falklands Crisis, the merchant navy is important as part of our defence forces.
The Falklands Crisis clearly showed the need for a strong Merchant Navy sailing under the British flag.
A local paper rightly called those involved the unsung heroes of the Falklands Crisis.
As the Government demonstrated during the Falklands Crisis, that factory is an essential part of the national effort.
Let us call that point B. On Tuesday 26 October, in answer to a specific question on the Falklands, the Prime Minister confirmed what she had said to George Gale in a major interview in the Daily Express - that the Falklands Crisis had come out of the blue on Wednesday 31 March.
But what evidence does it have for saying so, in the light of the submissions from the unions about the inadequacies that occurred during the Falklands Crisis - not only in the availability of shipping but in the training that took place between the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy to deal with everyday tasks that had to be fulfilled?
I join the hon. Member for Jarrow in commending the excellent work thatthe local ship repairers and workers put in during those very difficult days at the time of and immediately after the Falklands Crisis.
As President Belaunde made his announcement Argentina's ruling miltary junta are meeting in Buenos Aires to discuss the Falklands Crisis.
885, that the Falklands Crisis had come out of the blue, something which she had said to George Gale, on Wednesday, 31 March, when, lo and behold, we find in Franks that she was saying in the first week of March, "We must have contingency plans," referring to military contingency plans?
By showing a continuing readiness to talk, Britain can only enhance the prestige that it has gained through the Falklands Crisis, adding a third principle - a readiness tonegotiate peacefully-to the principles of self-determination and resistance to aggression, which are already established.
Does the Minister recall that during the Falklands Crisis the industry came to the nation's aid?
Its achievement in developing and producing guided missiles was amply demonstrated by the successful use during the Falklands Crisis of the Sea Skua helicopter-launched anti-ship missile.
The Atlantic Conveyor would not have been replaced in this country had it not been for public opinion and the patriotism of Lord Matthews; he must have read some of the articles in the Daily Express during the Falklands Crisis.
I have come to believe - it cannot be proved - that Ascension Island was being prepared for the Falklands Crisis in February 1982, weeks before most hon. Members had heard of a task force.
The Falklands Crisis: Soviet, Cuban and East European Reactions.
During the Falkland Crisis patriotic workers worked night and day to launch a carrier on time and workers converted merchant ships so that they could take part in the task force.
When I first took on responsibilities at the Foreign Office in response to the Prime Minister's invitation after the Falklands Crisis, I asked whether there was in general circulation throughout the Department a concise and clear statement of British foreign policy on one sheet of paper.
Did Dr. Fitzgerald tell my right hon. Friend about his attitude to relations between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, and whether his attitudes were different from those of his predecessor, Mr. Haughey, who was Taoiseach at the time of the Falklands Crisis?
Will the right hon. Lady further reflect that not so long ago she stood at the Dispatch Box and praised those people, who are now being called work-shy by one of her Ministers, for their efforts to get aircraft carriers to sea during the Falklands Crisis?
Like the rest of us, the military intelligence community is human and deeply resents the leader of the country claiming that the Falklands Crisis came out of the blue on 31 March - with the implication that the intelligence community had failed to do its job.
During the Falklands Crisis I asked the House not to forget the fellows in Northern Ireland.
It is clear why the Government have been so unwilling to exert economic pressure on Argentina, even during the Falklands Crisis.
It is no accident that Sir Shridath Ramphal was able to speak with authority on behalf of the Commonwealth during the Falklands Crisis and say:In making a firm and unambiguous response to Argentine aggression, Britain is rendering a service to the international community as a whole.
The workers in our shipyards worked extremely well during the Falklands Crisis and launched HMs Illustrious well ahead of time.
It was these qualities that enabled them, with the knowledge of closure in their minds, to work unstintingly through the Falklands Crisis of last year and right up to the present time, to finish their task with such distinction.
As the arrangements or sale were not complete at the time of the Falkland Crisis, the CEGB did not go ahead with the sale.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the criticisms, the Falklands Crisis, the row over Grenada, the disputes over policy towards the EEC budget and the strains on our current relationship with the United States have all taken their toll of the Foreign Office in terms of internal morale and external competence.
Mr. Dalyell asked the Prime Minister why she rejected the offer by Signor Craxi to help resolve the Falklands Crisis.
However, I believe that it could have prevented the Falklands Crisis.
If it is not there to step in and help the country, as it did during the Falklands Crisis, God help the country.
It is just two years after the Falkland Crisis, but there is no mention of the Merchant Navy in the White Paper.
As if the figures were not warning enough, the Falklands Crisis came along to bring home in the starkest form the lesson that we have only enough shipping to support even a limited action of that sort.
But for the Falklands Crisis, those ships would have gone to the knacker's yard.
Mr. Heseltine: The higher management of the Falklands Crisis was conducted by a small group of Ministers chaired by the Prime Minister.
During the Falklands Crisis, 20 product tankers were sent south to support the Royal Navy.
Yet, since the Falklands Crisis, there has been a reduction of 200 ships in the merchant fleet.
He was one of the very few to have left the service, although I understand that he had decided to go before the Falklands Crisis blew up.
We saw only two years ago during the Falklands Crisis how men worked night and day to meet the Government's deadlines and managed to help the victory that we sought.
There could, for example, be Another Falklands Crisis and the Government could cry out for ships.
After the Falklands Crisis, Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse said: I cannot say too often or too clearly how important has been the Merchant Navy's contribution to our efforts.
Is he sure that his proposals will not impair the Navy's flexibility to cope with emergency work, which was so admirably demonstrated at the time of the Falklands Crisis?
The hon. Gentleman is fully aware that the private sector responded just as magnificently as the public sector when we had to face the Falklands Crisis.
If that special responsibility were removed and the dockyards were run on a normal commercial basis, Another Falklands Crisis might occur and no royal dockyard would be able to meet the special responsibility.
What would have happened if, because of the new commercial disciplines applied to the dockyards, managers and men refused to work night and day as they did during the Falklands Crisis to get the fleet to sea?
When the Government had their Crisis in the Falklands, Westlands pulled out all the stops to help and was praised by hon. Members on both sides of the House for what it did.
The Falklands Crisis in 1982 catapulted him out of the Scottish Office into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
It seems to me that during the first Saturday debate on the Falklands Crisis there was a mood in the House which recognised that we had reached a very poor pass as a nation if we were scratching about to service such an operation.
The experience at Hilton, particularly during the Falklands Crisis, surely shows - I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister will confirm this - that civilians can and do offer exactly the same commitment, and do so without question.
Will my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House make time available to discuss the persistent and regular undermining of Her Majesty's Government position in terms of fighting for democracy and freedom against terrorism, which has continued since the Falklands Crisis and which continues today?
This included 36 weeks when all resources were transferred to more urgent work arising from the Falklands Crisis.
A similar thought must have passed through the mind of the Government when somewhat reluctantly they accepted during the Falklands Crisis the principle of having an examination to see what had gone wrong.
They were lined up, but there was a period of desuetude during the Falklands Crisis.
The Secretary of State would get the co-operation and commitment of the work force at Devonport which served the country mighty well during the Falklands Crisis.
10 during the Falklands Crisis.
We know of the number of ships that we needed in the Falklands Crisis, and that other crises may require more ships over a longer period, as well as substantial ship repair, ship conversion and other facilities.
The scars of the Falklands Crisis are still too vivid to be forgotten, and we are in the absurd situation in which otherwise normal relations between our two countries are in suspense, despite historic ties of blood, commerce and culture which go back more than two centuries.
More people have died in Northern Ireland as a result of terrorism than were killed during the Falklands Crisis, and yet the House does not show the same urgency and does not accord to Northern Ireland the importance that it should.
I remind hon. Members that in 1982, at the height of the Falklands Crisis, the Prime Minister said:When you've spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like the environment, it is exciting to have a real crisis on your hands.
When I returned to that conference, my German friends expressed amazement at the shrillness, jingoistic nature and excitability of the British Parliament in reacting to the Falklands Crisis.
We all know what a vital role was played by our merchant ships at the time of the Falklands Crisis, and I cannot pay too high a tribute to the skills and courage of the British seafarers who manned those ships.
In the Falkland Crisis.
May I remind the House of what happened at the time of the Falklands Crisis and of Operation Granby for the Gulf?
Many of those suppliers have provided equipment for the defence of this country, often at very short notice - for example, during the Falklands Crisis.
The Falkland Crisis was a stark illustration of the need for an amphibious capability.
During the Falklands Crisis, the Bishopton factory workers worked 24 hours a day and sweated blood.
Will my right hon. and learned Friend bear in mind that those most keen to be first in, such as the Front-Bench spokesmen of the Labour and Liberal Democratic parties, are often also first out, as was seen during the Falklands Crisis?
At the time of the Falklands Crisis, SSN craft were the first to the area, and one SSN spent over 100 days unsupported at sea.
We were taken by surprise in exactly the same way during the Falklands Crisis.
At that time, we covered the general agreement on tariffs and trade, British trade, the Falklands Crisis and the teaching of the Spanish language in Britain.
The hon. Member for North Cornwall (Mr. Tyler) referred to the rapid reaction to the Falklands Crisis.
Will the Ministry support and help them: they were not enlisted into the armed forces, unlike civilians during the Falklands Crisis?
I have been in the House for just long enough to remember the Saturday debate on the Falklands Crisis, and the debates on the emergency in the Gulf in 1991 and the decision to deploy British forces in Bosnia.
Another part of the world which I should like to mention is Belize, which I know well because I spent six months there during the Falklands Crisis.
The Falklands Crisis came out of the blue and the Gulf crisis came with very little warning.
Will he join me in giving a pat on the back to the BBC for its decision, at last, to broadcast "The Falklands Play" by the distinguished playwright, Ian Curteis, on the 20th anniversary of the Falklands Crisis, both on BBC Radio 4 and on the new BBC 4 digital television channel?
I do not need to remind the House that the Us was not overly helpful during the Falklands Crisis.
To treat the Falklands Crisis as a precedent for what should happen over Iraq would be entirely false.
Secondly, is it not strange that, even at this stage, it is not possible for processing to return to a sovereign nation of 18 million people - one of the handful who supported us at the time of the Falklands Crisis.
Then, for the first time since 1982 during the Falklands Crisis, the Cabinet met on a Saturday.
She never forgot that in the Falklands Crisis when Reagan wobbled, Mitterrand was the first foreign head of government to ring and promise full support, which he delivered.