It’s more than 40 years since British forces fought a brief but bloody campaign to retake the Falkland Islands after their invasion by Argentina.
On the windswept hills around the capital Port Stanley you can still see evidence of battle.
The wreckage of destroyed helicopters, discarded military hardware and shell casings scattered on once strategically important rocky outcrops and boggy valleys.
These relics are quietly rusting away.
But for the few thousand residents of an island archipelago half the size of Wales, memories of the conflict don’t fade.
Image: The wreckage of an Argentinian Chinook
‘I’m not going to speak with a gun at my back’
On 1 April 1982, Patrick Watts was broadcasting news of the unfolding invasion from the studio of Falklands Radio when jubilant Argentinian soldiers burst in.
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The live recording of his exchange with the invaders is now part of the historical record of the invasion.
“I’m not going to speak with a gun in my back,” says Watts to the Argentinian commander.
Image: Sky’s Tom Clarke with former DJ Patrick Watts
Speaking to us 43 years later in the same studio, Patrick clearly recalls his mood that morning.
“For them, the islands, they have always said belong to them. And it’s expressed in their emotions when they come up the passage shouting at each other and they open the door and they come in, they have guns,” he says.
“I then become quite belligerent.”
On the recording, he can be heard ordering the Argentinian commander to tell his men to take their guns outside, to stop shouting and smoking.
“I hate smoking. No smoking in my studio. And he tells them and of course, they’re still shouting and screaming. And then you can hear him shouting, ‘Silencio, silencio’.”
Mr Watts’s calm defiance has come to define the collective attitude of this British Overseas Territory ever since.
Image: A bust of Margaret Thatcher in Port Stanley
But given Argentina has never relinquished its territorial claim to the Falklands, it’s not necessarily the population’s overwhelming desire to remain British that has kept them that way.
‘The threat hasn’t changed’
Since the end of the conflict there has been a UK military presence on the islands.
A 2,000-strong garrison of troops and a squadron of fighter jets and transport aircraft based around the main airport at Mount Pleasant.
A deterrent to Argentina – little more than 200 miles away – not to exercise its continued claim over the Falklands.
Image: Leona Roberts
However, the UK is more than 7,000 miles away and in a world newly dominated by strong men with territorial ambitions.
And the UK’s expensive military commitment to the Falklands comes at a time when the government is under pressure to prioritise defence, and defence spending closer to home.
Walking across the rugged landscape you get a sense of how remote and, to an outsider at least, how inhospitable these islands are.
With military tensions escalating in Europe as US President Donald Trump presses for an end to the war in Ukraine, it’s reasonable to ask whether Falkland Islanders feel less secure than they have done for the past 40 years.
Image: Tributes on the hill at Mount Longdon
“Argentina is always a bit of a shadow over our shoulder,” says Leona Roberts, a member of the Falkland Islands legislative assembly.
“The threat and the situation… has not changed.”
But she is confident the UK will continue its protection of the Falklands. Successive governments, including Sir Keir Starmer‘s, have continued to support the current military presence.
‘We take nothing for granted’
But could it change?
“We take nothing for granted,” she says. “We’re very grateful for the UK’s continuing support.”
Though remote, the Falkland Islands, she argues, are strategically important as a gateway for research and maritime operations around Antarctica and the vast South Atlantic region, as well as politically stable in an increasingly unstable world.
“A little rock of democracy and stability in what is otherwise a pretty volatile region,” she says.
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1:39
The perils of chasing penguins
Argentina’s President Javier Milei, an ally of Mr Trump, has said he will not relinquish the claim to sovereignty over the Falklands, but nor will he seek conflict with the UK.
People here hope their strong desire to remain British will always outweigh the physical distance between them and their protector.
It was a sunny morning in June 2023 as news broke that a major incident had been declared in Nottingham. As the hours went by it emerged three people had been stabbed.
Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar had been walking home from a night out when they were fatally attacked. School caretaker Ian Coates was heading into work when he was killed.
Across the city, Delvin Marriott was following the news in horror. “I just had a sinking feeling – emptiness – I felt devastated,” he says. “You know, the Nottingham attacks wouldn’t have happened if they listened to us. It wouldn’t have happened.”
He says he knew instinctively that the killer of Barnaby, Grace, and Ian would turn out to be a mental health patient and blames the loss of his brother on the same system that allowed paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane to be out on the streets armed with a knife.
Image: Left to right: Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber, and Ian Coates
Ten months earlier, in August 2022, 58-year-old Brenton Marriott had been killed by his son.
Image: Rudi Marriott (right) did not receive any mental health support until after he stabbed his father Brenton (left) to death
Rudi Marriott stabbed his father 75 times in a frenzied attack at home in Nottingham.
The family says they had repeatedly called the police and mental health services about Rudi’s violence but their warnings were ignored.
Over a decade earlier, as a teenager Rudi had been attacked with a baseball bat, leading to a bleed on the brain. His family says after that he began hearing voices and grew increasingly violent. As his health deteriorated he believed he had a microchip in his head that was controlling him.
“I knew he was dangerous, I was living with him,” says his mother Juliette, who recalls barricading her bedroom door when she could hear him having a psychotic episode.
Image: Rudi suffered a bleed on the brain when he was attacked with a baseball bat as a teenager
The family called the police on many occasions. “We would phone the police hoping the mental health service would come with them, hoping that this is an opportunity for him to be assessed and receive the help that he needs,” Juliette says.
“That was the main reason for phoning the police – not to have him arrested, but for the assessment to happen.”
They say they repeatedly questioned why he wasn’t being sectioned. Rudi’s sister Charise says she once asked a mental health nurse: “Is it going to take him to kill someone for something to be done?”
But none of their warnings were heeded. Rudi didn’t receive any mental health support until after he stabbed his father to death. He later received a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
Image: Brenton was desperate to help his son who up until his illness was very loving, their family says
‘I lost my best friend and my son’
Juliette breaks down as she reflects on the double tragedy. “I’m devastated because I’ve lost two of them. Lost his dad – he was my best friend for 35 years, my best friend. And I’ve lost my son, who up until his illness was very loving.”
Rudi was sentenced to a hospital order. A domestic homicide review is examining what more the authorities could have done.
Delvin says his brother Brenton was just desperate to help Rudi. “Brenton in my eyes is a hero,” he says. “If he wasn’t doing what he was doing, that could have been anybody that Rudi attacked. He could have gone out and gone on a frenzied attack.”
A recent NHS report found that in the four years before Calocane carried out his attacks there were 15 incidents of patients either under the current care of the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust or who had been discharged perpetrating serious violence towards members of the community. Most of the incidents involved stabbings and three cases resulted in fatalities.
Neil Hudgell, a lawyer representing the families, says the public inquiry due to begin into the deaths of the Nottingham attack victims needs to ensure the trust is held accountable for failings.
“I think we’ve seen tragic story after tragic story where patients, their families, and victims have been let down,” he says.
“We need to get to the bottom of why that happened, who’s responsible for that and to have some genuine change.”
Delvin says his family feels “failed by the NHS, by the police, by the mental health service”.
Image: Delvin Marriott (right) has described his brother Brenton (left) as ‘a hero’
Ifti Majid, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trus, said: “Any loss of life in such circumstances is an absolute tragedy, and on behalf of the trust I again offer my sincerest condolences to Brenton’s family and friends.”
Nottinghamshire Police told Sky News “our thoughts remain with all family members affected by this tragic incident”, adding that they are fully participating in the domestic homicide review.
Delvin describes the failure to deal with the mental health crisis as “a ticking timebomb, waiting for another disaster”.
Juliette agrees. “This is a real epidemic,” she says. “And as a result of the broken system the public are at risk. Everybody’s at risk.”
Labour faces a major challenge from its own backbenchers ahead of an announcement to restrict some sickness and disability benefits.
The plans are likely to be opposed by those in the party who are concerned about attempts to slash the ballooning welfare bill and encourage adults back to work.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to set out the reforms on Tuesday, but details of where those cuts could fall is proving highly divisive within Labour.
Total welfare spending in 2023-23 was about £296bn, by the end of the decade it is forecast to reach almost £378bn.
The chancellor needs to find savings to meet her strict fiscal rules and Rachel Reeves has previously insisted “we do need to get a grip” on the welfare budget.
One proposal reportedly under consideration is to save around £5bn by freezing or tightening the rules around the personal independence payment (PIP).
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But Labour’s Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, a former Labour health secretary, has “urged great caution on how changes are made” although, writing in The Times, he accepts “the benefits system needs a radical overhaul”.
“I would share concerns about changing support and eligibility to benefits while leaving the current top-down system broadly in place. It would trap too many people in poverty,” he added.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting argued on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the current system is “unsustainable” and welfare reforms are needed. He also said mental health conditions are often overdiagnosed.
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0:45
‘1,000 people every day signing on to PIP benefits’
PIP is a payment of up to £9,000 a year for people with long-term physical and mental health conditions.
Campaigner Steve Morris is one of those 3.6 million PIP claimants and says freezing it at the current level would make his life much harder.
Image: Steve Morris claims PIP and is worried about what reforming the benefit could mean for him
“I’m deafblind. PIP makes a huge difference to my life. It enables me to, afford some of the additional costs that are associated with my disability.
“For so many disabled people benefits are a lifeline. So to hear that lifeline might be taken away or severely restricted is hugely concerning.”
Liz Kendall told The Sunday Times it was an “absolute principle” to protect welfare payments for people unable to work. “For those who absolutely cannot work, this is not about that,” she said.
But she said the number of people on PIP is set to more than double this decade, partly driven by younger people.
Sky’s political correspondent Liz Bates said the government had been expected to announce a detailed plan over welfare spending last week.
“This particular issue of PIPs stopped that plan being announced because of the strength of backlash… from the backbenches all the way up to cabinet level.”
She added that talks were going on behind the scenes about whether the policy could be softened in some way, although it was unlikely reforms could be avoided completely ahead of the spring statement on 26 March.
“Could there be a bit of backtracking from Number 10 and from the department? This is what we’re going to find out on Tuesday. There is, of course, a lot of pressure coming from the chancellor.”
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3:05
Welfare system ‘letting people down’
Labour is also aiming to tackle economic inactivity – especially among those under 35 – with an increasing proportion out of work due to long-term sickness.
A recent PwC report warns “a significant proportion of working adults are close to becoming economically inactive” and ill-health “is a major driver”.
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The poll of 4,000 people shows 10% of the workforce are currently actively considering leaving work, and not just their current role.
That rises to 37% of those aged 18-24, who say they have either seriously considered leaving work in the last year, or are actively considering doing so now.
While the factors are complex and vary by age, the report reflects mental health is a major concern with 42% of 18-24 year-olds citing it as the biggest reason to leave work.
Image: Backbench Labour MPs are concerned welfare reforms will harm vulnerable people claiming benefits. File pic: PA
On Sunday, Ms Kendall teased one policy announcement to attract people back to work, effectively giving disabled people the right to try employment without the risk of losing their benefits.
The so-called “right to try guarantee” aims to prevent those people who receive health-related benefits from having their entitlements automatically re-assessed if they enter employment.
The Conservatives support welfare reform but claim Labour is “divided” over the issue and “cannot deliver the decisive change we need”.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: “The government’s dithering and delay is costing taxpayers millions every day and failing the people who rely on the welfare system.”
Two teenagers have died and another is fighting for his life after a late night car crash in Shropshire.
A collision involving a silver Audi A1 occurred shortly before 11.15pm on Friday in Offoxey Road, Tong – near the town of Shifnal, West Mercia Police said.
It has since been confirmed an 18-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, while a 17-year-old boy died in hospital.
Another 17-year-old boy is still being treated in hospital and is in a critical condition after sustaining life-threatening injuries in the crash.
A fourth, also a 17-year-old boy, sustained what has been described as “life-changing” injuries but is in a stable condition, police said.
“Officers investigating the collision are continuing to appeal for anyone who may have information about the incident to get in touch,” a police spokesperson said.
Anyone with information is footage is asked to contact DC Rich Owen on 07814773916 or SCIUNorth@westmercia.police.uk quoting incident number 554 of 14 March