Just for the Exercise

Presumably in hopes that a quick South American war might do for the current rabble what the Falklands farce did for the sainted Thatcher, His Majesty's Government is to dispatch a gunboat to keep an eye on Guyana. The plucky little Commmonwealth country is involved in a territorial spat with Venezuela, where a referendum three weeks ago resulted in a vote to claim two-thirds of Guyana as its own. Britain, being the last nation in the world to condone fantastically unrealistic expectations from a referendum result, has proclaimed the sanctity of all internationally recognised borders except those not recognised by Britain, the World Cop or the Righteous State, and will be sending a Sewer-class offshore patrol vessel to participate in "activities which will be carried out at sea." Doubtless it will come as a relief to all involved that the Ministry for Wog-Bombing has discovered, perhaps from some yachting chums, that for best results boat-related activities should tend towards the maritime.