Richard Norton-Taylor, a man with a rich past, writes in today’s Observer about that Falklands referendum. In his considered view the referendum is ‘all but meaningless’.
Examine the column of which this is the conclusion, however, and you might find it hard to detect from what Norton-Taylor obtains his meanings. He is aware of the principle of self-determination, but doesn’t attach any weight to it – on the grounds, it seems, that it isn’t always respected. Beyond that, it’s just a matter of things various people have said at various times, but with no fundamental principle enunciated by Norton-Taylor to explain what better basis there might be than self-determination for settling the issue of sovereignty.
And then, at the last minute, he discovers a source of compelling meaning. It is – steel yourself – what a visitor from Mars would think. Me, I don’t rightly know what a visitor from Mars would think – always assuming such a being was possessed of thinking intelligence. Maybe, like a lot of humans, Martians would also give moral weight to the right to self-determination. Maybe, like me, they wouldn’t consider geographical proximity decisive. We’ll never know.