No carrier, no Falklands, warns former Royal Marine commander

THE UK government was last night under pressure to review its decision to leave the country without an aircraft carrier for a decade after a former senior military commander said that such a move would lead to the fall of the Falkland Islands.

As tensions continue to heighten in the South Atlantic, a former commander of the Royal Marines, Major General Julian Thompson, said it would be “end of story” if Argentine forces took the British base on East Falkland.

He said that in order to hold on to the islands or retake them Britain would need air cover, which would be impossible without the use of an aircraft carrier.

And he also argued that while Britain is much weaker than it was in 1982, Argentina’s forces are in far better shape.

Maj Gen Thompson said: “The Argentines have a marine brigade. They’ve got a parachute brigade and some good special forces. All they’ve got to do is get those guys on to the islands for long enough to destroy the [RAF] Typhoon jets and that’s the end of it.”

He added: “You have got to take your own air support with you and you can’t without a carrier. End of story.”

The concerns have already been the subject of a scathing report by the Defence Select Committee into the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), concluded in November 2010.

The review saw the aircraft carriers taken out of service with immediate effect and HMS Illustrious turned into a helicopter carrier instead.

The two new Queen Elizabeth class carriers will not come into action until 2020 – and currently one is due to be immediately mothballed. There are also concerns over whether they will have sufficient numbers of the new Joint Strike Fighters.

The recent conflict in Libya also raised questions, with Britain reliant on the use of France’s Charles de Gaul carrier.

Ministers have resisted calls for a review of the SDSR.

Last night Labour’s Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, said: “These are yet more worrying warnings from senior military figures about the Falklands Islands and ministers must provide clarity and reassurance.

“The government’s rushed defence review left us with serious capability gaps. Britain will not have aircraft on aircraft carriers for ten years. While France had an aircraft carrier off the coast of Libya during the recent conflict, Britain’s was on sale online.”

The government did not want to comment on Maj Gen Thompson’s remarks and said there was no need for a new review.

Last month Downing Street accused Argentina of pursuing a “policy of confrontation” over the islands, after reports suggested the South American state’s government was calling on companies to stop importing goods from the UK.

It marked the latest escalation of the confrontation over the territory as the 30th anniversary of the outbreak of the Falklands War approaches.

Tempers flared after Britain deployed one of its most modern destroyers, HMS Dauntless, to the region, although it insisted the move was merely routine.