Airstrip One

It's not about hurt feelings, Tam

What is it about the left? Tam Dalyell says that we should cut the Falklands adrift, and even this MP - as a staunch Scottish Unionist he's more accustomed to thinking about the national question than most of his contemporaries - but he says it in such a way to make it look unattractive. The real argument is that Britain is rapidly becoming unable to project power as far as the Falklands, and although we could get that capability back in a couple of years it will take the sort of spending that we are not prepared to contemplate.

The real question with the remaining colonies is how much of our defence capabilities are we prepared to divert away from the British Isles, and let's stop worrying about Argentine pride.