Rick Brindle

  Fortuna Glacier, 1982. The SAS were deployed on the South Georgia glacier during the Falklands War, believing they could traverse it. They couldn’t, and if they’d listened to the Marines and SBS, they wouldn’t have tried. They didn’t listen, and so hubris and a general cowboy attitude meant that they were on a mission that was doomed to fail. It was only the sheer cojones of the Fleet Air Arm’s Wessex pilots that saved their bacon. Two helicopters were lost, along with a lorra lorra SAS pride. The Channel Dash, 1942. The German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen left Brest and slipped along the English Channel, to escape British aircraft and naval forces and arrive safely in German ports. It was very embarrassing for the British forces, and also resulted in a lot of British aircraft losses. It was mission impossible for the Germans, but they did it. Torrey Canyon, 1967. This huge oil tanker ran aground and broke up just off the south west coast of England, threatening ma

  It's always going to be subjective, but for me, it's  The Rolling Stones, without a doubt. And they’re not even my favourite band. These guys are. And I really don’t like the Stones’ whole corporate, greedy, money grabbing thing they’ve got going. I paid £150 to see them in 2006, and it was eye-wateringly expensive then, and it’s still a bloody fortune today. I’d never pay that to see another band, and it’s unlikely I’d pay that to see the Stones again, no matter how good they are. And yet…and yet…when they play live, really, seriously, all is forgiven. I’ve been going to concerts for nearly forty years now, and I’ve been to some amazing shows, but no one, no one, even comes close to the Stones. They absolutely are in a league of their own, and when they play live, you’re watching history onstage, you’re a part of that history. When they play live, they make every one of their songs a masterpiece, and they’re the consummate entertainers. No one gets short changed either, it’s

In as much as the future is not set (quote from Terminator), anything is possible, including the Falkland Islands becoming part of Argentina. But, thanks to the 1982 war, not yet (quote from Gladiator). And here’s why. Wars clearly inflame emotions, and the Falklands is no exception. Even now, forty-two years after the war, no one in Britain is even considering handing the islands over to Argentina. And don’t expect that to change as long as the war remains a part of living memory. In about forty years from now, the political landscape may well be different. At some point, the garrison  will  be gradually run down. We also need to remember that just before the Falklands War, in 1980, Nicholas Ridley, a tory MP, suggested leasing the islands back to Argentina. The islanders rejected the suggestion, but if there hadn’t been a war, the idea may have gained traction. Stranger things have happened. Ultimately, it’s a decision for the islanders to make. I don’t think there’s much chance that