They didn't win: but congratulations to England on a great World Cup effort

Yesterday was only the fourth time ever that an England men's football team has reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. Had they progressed to the final it would have been the first time since 19666, when they won sixty years ago, that England had done so. But it was not to be.

However, congratulations are in order to England for playing as well as they did and getting as fa as they did.

Under ordinary circumstances I would congratulate Argentina on their win. But as some people on their side from the Vice President down seem to think they have a colonial claim to the Falkland Islands, which have overwhelmingly voted to stay British, I have this to say to them instead.

Winning a football match does not give you any claim on a territory whose inhabitants voted overwhelmingly to stay British. Putting forward claims to other people's territory is dangerous: last time a fascist janta which was running your country tried to win some popularity by sucking up to that kind of perverted jingoism, it cost our two countries 907 lives. Your country lost 649 young men, mostly conscripts, we lost 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Island civilians also died for Leopoldo Galtieri's ego.

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