Settling the issue - Telegraph In making London his first port of call for his inaugural overseas visit as Secretary of State, John Kerry was demonstrating the continued importance of the UK-US relationship. It was, he said, "no accident" that his 11-day tour of Europe and the Middle East had started with a visit to America's "remarkable partner." The two countries, Mr Kerry added, were bound together by common values, a long, shared history and ties of family and friendship. Those common values include a commitment to democracy and the self-determination of peoples. So it is unfortunate that the Secretary of State did not feel able to make an unequivocal statement respecting the rights of the Falkland Islanders to decide their own future in next month's referendum on whether to remain a UK overseas territory. Mr Kerry said Washington would continue to urge "a peaceful resolution of this critical issue." But there is no issue. The Falklands are British unless the inhabitants decide otherwise. To question this is to suggest that there might be a deal with Argentina to impose a form of sovereignty that the islanders do not want. The State Department has history here. In 1982, when the Falklands were occupied by the forces of a military junta, the then secretary of state, Alexander Haig, tried to broker a peace agreement that would have let the aggressors keep some of their spoils, while the American ambassador to the UN, Jeane Kirkpatrick, was openly hostile to the British attempt to retake the islands. It was Ronald Reagan, and Caspar Weinberger at Defence, who circumvented the State Department and gave Britain vital military and intelligence assistance. We wish Mr Kerry well in his post over the next four years and trust that when the Falklanders have had their referendum on March 11, he will accept that this "issue" has been settled.