On the 30th Anniversary of the 'Falklands/Malvinas' war, it doesn't seem that much has changed. An unpopular right wing government is in the early stages of its life. It is imposing cruel cuts to the public sector and is building up large queues of unemployed people.
And still we 'rattle sabres' as part of our foreign policy strategy.
The Atlantic war is my first political memory. I remember being stirred up in the classroom by the teachers. We all had to make our own union jack posters, which were to be placed in the front windows of our homes. The council estate I lived on was full of them.
Nationalist pride was pushed upon us, and at the age of 12, I loved it. It helped us forget the grinding poverty that we lived in. We didn't think so much about the crap wages my step-dad received as a milkman, or the morning paper round that me and my brother had to do to help pay the household bills. We may have been poor - but at least we were at war!
Looking back, it was that 'nationalist pride' that probably got my working class parents to vote for the Tories in the eighties. The ruling class know how to distract us from the real problems, and we have seen them use these tactics time and time again.
In this Holy Week, we think about being swept up in the crowd, shouting 'Hosanna', wanting a return to power and to sovereignty. But Jesus comes on a donkey, not an aircraft carrier. He pursues the way of peace, not the ways of war.
Whether in Argentina or Britain, let us ignore the nationalist pride of our leaders, and always pursue the paths of peace.
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