Minister stops in archipelago on Antarctic trip

A British government minister is visiting the Falkland Islands this week on his way to Antarctica, officials revealed yesterday, while seeking to downplay any political implications of the trip.

David Willetts, the minister for universities and science, left Britain on Wednesday and was due to make a stopover in the South Atlantic archipelago before arriving in Antarctica, where he will meet with British scientists.

Tensions are high between Britain and Argentina over the Falklands, which London controls but Buenos Aires claims, ahead of the 30th anniversary in April of the start of the war between the two nations over the islands.

A spokeman for Mr Willetts’s office insisted he was only in the Falklands for logistical reasons saying.

“It is a trip to Antarctica. To go to Antarctica you have to transit through the Falklands.

“He is going to see British scientists attached to the British Antarctic Survey.”

She added that on the way back Mr Willetts is likely to spend the night at the house of the Falklands governor, Nigel Haywood, and attend a dinner.