00:00Mrs Diana Gould in our Bristol studio. Mrs Gould, your question, please.
00:05Mrs Thatcher, why, when the Belgrano, the Argentinian battleship, was outside the exclusion zone and actually sailing away from the
00:14Falklands, why did you give the orders to sink it?
00:18But it was not sailing away from the Falklands. It was in an area which was a danger to our
00:25ships and to our people on them.
00:29Outside the exclusion zone.
00:30But it was in an area which we had warned. At the end of April, we had given warnings that
00:37all ships in those areas, if they represented a danger to our ships, were vulnerable.
00:44When it was sunk, that ship which we had found was a danger to our ships.
00:49My duty was to look after our troops, our ships, our navy. And my goodness me, I live with many,
00:57many anxious days and nights.
00:59Mrs Thatcher, you started your answer by saying it was not sailing away from the Falklands. It was on a
01:05bearing of 280 and it was already west of the Falklands.
01:08So I'm sorry, but I cannot see how you can say it was not sailing away from the Falklands.
01:13When it was sunk, it was a danger to our ships.
01:18No, but you have just said at the beginning of your answer that it was not sailing away from the
01:23Falklands. And I am asking you to correct that statement.
01:26Yes, but it's within an area outside the exclusion zone, which I think what you are saying is sailing away.
01:31No, I am not, Mrs Thatcher, which was a danger to our ships.
01:36Mrs Thatcher, I am saying that it was on a bearing 280, which is a bearing just north of west.
01:44It was already west of the Falklands and therefore nobody with any imagination can put it sailing other than away
01:51from the Falklands.
01:52Mrs, I'm sorry, I forgot your name.
01:54Mrs Gould.
01:55Mrs Gould.
01:56When the orders were given to sink it and when it was sunk, it was in an area which was
02:02a danger to our ships.
02:04Now, you accept that, do you?
02:07No, I don't.
02:08I'm sorry it was.
02:09You must accept that when we gave the order, when we changed the rules which enabled them to sink Belgrano,
02:19the change of rules had been notified at the end of April.
02:25It was all published that any ships that were a danger to ours within a certain zone, wider than the
02:32Falklands, were likely to be sunk.
02:35And again, I do say to you, my duty, and I'm very proud that we put it this way and
02:42adhered to it, was to protect the lives of the people in our ships and the enormous numbers of troops
02:49that we had down there waiting for landings.
02:52I put that duty first.
02:54And when the Belgrano was sunk, when the Belgrano was sunk, and I ask you to accept this,
03:00she was in a position which was a danger to our navy.
03:06Mrs. Good, let me ask you this, Mrs. Good.
03:08What motive are you seeking to attach to Mrs. Thatcher and her government in this?
03:12Is it inefficiency, lack of communication, or is it a desire for action, a desire for war?
03:16It is a desire for action and a lack of communications, because on giving those orders to sink the Belgrano,
03:22when it was actually sailing away from our fleet and away from the Falklands,
03:26was in effect sabotaging any possibility of any peace plan succeeding,
03:32and Mrs. Thatcher had 14 hours in which to consider the Peruvian peace plan that was being put forward to
03:39her,
03:40in which those 14 hours, those orders could have been rescinded.
03:44One day, all of the facts in about 30 years' time will be published.
03:49That is not good enough, Mrs. Thatcher.
03:51Mrs. Good, let Mrs. Thatcher answer.
03:53I think you've put a fair point.
03:55Would you please let me answer?
03:57I lived with the responsibility for a very long time.
04:00I answered the question, giving the facts, not anyone's opinions, but the facts.
04:06Those Peruvian peace proposals, which were only in outline, did not reach London until after the attack on the Belgrano.
04:18That is fact.
04:19I'm sorry, that is fact, and I am going to finish.
04:22Did not reach London until after the attack on the Belgrano.
04:27Moreover, we went on negotiating for another fortnight after that attack.
04:34I think it could only be in Britain that a Prime Minister was accused of sinking an enemy ship that
04:42was a danger to our Navy,
04:45when my main motive was to protect the boys in our Navy.
04:50That was my main motive, and I'm very proud of it.
04:53One day, all the facts will be revealed, and they will indicate, as I have said.
04:57Mrs. Good, have you got a new point to make?
04:59Otherwise, I must move on.
05:00Well, just one point.
05:01I understood that the Peruvian peace plans on a nationwide programme were discussed on midnight May 1st.
05:09If that outline did not reach London for another 14 hours,
05:15I think there must be something very seriously wrong with our communications,
05:19and we are living in a nuclear age when we are going to have minutes to make decisions, not ours.
05:23Let's move on.
05:24I have indicated what the facts are,
05:26and would you accept that I am in a position to know exactly when they reached London,
05:32exactly when the attack was made,
05:34but I repeat, the job of the Prime Minister is to protect the lives of our boys on our ships.
05:41Let's move on to discuss that nuclear age, Mrs. Thatcher, if we can,
05:46because we've got a lot of questions on defence, as you might imagine.
05:49I'm not interested in this as a cure, but we are going to have an anti-Carlo.
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