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The flag is mightier than the Penn
Falklands up in arms over star Sean's insults
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle4135473.ece

From OLIVER HARVEY, Chief Feature Writer
in the Falkland Islands
Published: 17th February 2012

A PATRIOTIC mile-long convoy of red, white and blue snakes out of the Falklands

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...e-British.html
Brave ... Lisa Watson
I defied Argies at 12 & still do - BOSS of islands’ only paper has always stood up to Argie aggression

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...ison-Penn.html
War hero slams poison Penn

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...n-Britain.html
Actor Sean Penn attacks UK again

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-islander.html
Falklands heroine puts Penn in his box

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...lands-bid.html
Penn backs Argies’ bid

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...Falklands.html
Argentina slams UK on ‘nukes’ Union Flags flapping in the breeze like medieval battle standards, the motorcade of islanders drove out to protest over insults levelled at Britain by Hollywood actor Sean Penn.

The mood was neatly summed up in a placard reading "Falk u Sean!" in the window of print shop manager Donna Clasen's car as it edged along Stanley's bypass. With the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War in April, the islanders were incensed at Penn's inflammatory remarks on Monday labelling Britain "colonialist, ludicrous and archaic" for refusing to hand the islands over to Argentina.

Penn — once married to Madonna, who played late Argentinian first lady Eva Peron in 1996 film Evita — waded in again on Tuesday, saying the UK showed "insensitivity" for posting Prince William there for an RAF search-and-rescue deployment.

It was enough to press the islanders into action after weeks of sabre-rattling from Argentine politicians.

Around 130 flag-flying motors proceeded along the bypass on Wednesday evening to prove the Falklands' solidarity with the motherland.

Insults ... American actor Sean Penn


It was an impressive show of strength from a population of just 3,000. Leading the motorcade was carpenter Bill Chater, 34, in his Daihatsu painted red, white and blue.
He said: "Sean Penn should mind his own business. He has no idea what he's talking about. The islands are British and want to stay British.

"We're proud of our heritage."

There was a carnival atmosphere as the sun glinted on the peaks around Stanley — including Mount Tumbledown and Sapper Hill, battlefields in the 1982 war with Argentina.

Banners read: "Falkland Islands — British to the core" and "We're British and Proud".

Metal worker Mike Butcher, 67, had a placard on his pick-up roof with a picture of a giant penguin and the message: "The fish are mine, the mines are Argentine." The metal worker said: "People here don't usually go in for demonstrations but we've had enough."

Report ... Sun man Oliver Harvey in the Falklands

Tensions between Britain and Argentina have been running high. The South American country's foreign minister likened William to a 16th-century Spanish imperialist conquistador. Argentina claimed the Prince's current six-week posting was an act of "provocation and aggression" by the UK.

Britain has ordered Type 45 destroyer Dauntless to the region, though the Ministry of Defence says it is a routine deployment.

It emerged on Tuesday that a delegation of MPs will visit the Falklands next month, which is likely to further inflame tensions with Argentina.

Get the message, Sean? ... poster in the Falklands

Members of the Commons defence select committee are expected to visit the Mount Pleasant garrison and commemorate the servicemen who died in the conflict. Earlier this month Argentine President Cristina Kirchner registered a formal complaint with the United Nations for what she calls Britain's "militarisation" of the South Atlantic.

Rally organiser, former Royal Marine Norman Clark, 69, said last night: "People were getting fed up with all the negative stuff coming from Argentine politicians. "Sean Penn's idiotic comments were the final straw."

Farmer Melanie Gilding brought son James, seven, to the demo. She said: "Feelings are running high, as tense as it has been since the conflict."


Patriotic ... dad drives daughter in flag-decked car

Britain has vowed the Falklands' future must be decided by the islanders themselves.

David Cameron has insisted Britain remains as committed to protecting the islands as it was when Margaret Thatcher sent an armada to retake them. The liberation cost the lives of 255 British servicemen. Retired farmer Eric Goss's 4x4 bore a sign reading: "How can we give back what was never theirs?"

The 71-year-old said: "The Falklands is British, always has been, always will be." Engineer Robin Goodwin, 64, said: "I was born here. We're British and we're never going to change."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...5aQshNkRStME_R
Video: Falklands fury at Sean Penn claims[/video] THE Sun's Oliver Harvey witnesses islanders' demo against actor's comments

Sun Exclusive

TV adventurer Ben Fogle — whose show Swimming With Crocodiles starts on BBC2 on Saturday — hit out out at Penn on Twitter.

Fogle, a close friend of Prince William, said: "I would like to take Sean Penn and place him in the jaws of one of those crocodiles." He added: "It's up to the islanders not actors to decide their future."

Tory MP and ex-Army officer Patrick Mercer said: "What on earth has this got to do with Sean Penn? "He's neither British nor Argentine and seems to know nothing about the situation judging by this moronic statement."

o.harvey@the-sun.co.uk