Andrew R.T. Davies MS (Leader of the Opposition): Thank you,
Presiding Officer. With your permission, as it's the fortieth
anniversary of the Falklands conflict, and
today is the day that the cessation of hostilities was declared
in the Falkland islands, I'd like to put my Conservative group's
thanks to the servicemen and women who went out in 1982 and
commemorate those who lost their lives—the 255 British men and
women who lost their lives in that conflict, plus the three
Falkland islanders themselves, but also the Argentinian soldiers
who lost their lives as well. All war is a horrid function, but,
ultimately, when the aggression of the dictatorship that was in
Argentina that was perpetrated in 1982 was faced down, it had to
be faced down by our military, who we time and time again call on
to do that across the globe. I'd like to put on record our
sincere thanks and gratitude, and our thanks also to the families
that are left behind for the loved ones who will not
return.
(First Minister of
Wales): I thank the leader of the opposition for those
questions, and of course share what he said in opening his
questions this afternoon. This is the fortieth anniversary of the
Falklands war. It is right
that we use this opportunity to think both of those people who
served directly in that conflict, but also the families of those
people who never returned from the Falklands. I will be
at Llandaf cathedral on Thursday, I've no doubt the leader of the
opposition will be there too, and we'll see a bringing together
of the military community in Wales, with others, in order to have
a solemn moment of reflection. And I know that there are events
in north Wales involving the armed forces as well. So, I entirely
associate myself with his remarks in marking this occasion.
