It is a great pleasure once again to be speaking to you at Christmas and to send you all best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a peaceful and good New Year. Our thoughts are with you and we share with you the joys of the year that has passed and we look forward to the new one to come.
1988 has, I think, been a good year for the people of the Falklands. Your own fishery zone, introduced last year, has continued to bring you increasing prosperity and the way you have managed it will certainly have enhanced your standing internationally. Above all, it offers you a settled and prosperous future—and that matters so much.
Of course, the changes of recent years have put your elected representatives under growing pressure of work, but they continue to promote your interests very successfully, both at home and further afield, and I watch with admiration. [end p1]
This year's debate at the United Nations saw a further reduction in support for Argentina—a clear sign that the international community is losing interest in this pointless vote. Those councillors who represented you in New York made some very telling points when they spoke in favour of democracy and justice. We shall never accept the arguments of those who refuse to recognise your right to decide your own future—a right which Britain is determined to uphold and, of course, sovereignty is not for negotiation.
So as 1988 draws to a close, the future is bright for the Falklands, just as it is for the United Kingdom.
I was very encouraged by Gordon Duke 's Report on his governorship and want to say thank you to him for all that he has done, and I am sure William Fullerton will continue the good work.
I also want to send my thanks and warm good wishes to all the servicemen and women in the Islands and to all who are there to help with development and construction. Many of you will be far away from your families at Christmas, but they and we are thinking of you and are so very grateful for what you are doing.
I am sure you will have a wonderful Christmas Service. I remember the cathedral so well, its warm and friendly atmosphere, and it with that so very much in mind that I wish you a Happy Christmas, Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men.