UK gov’t and opposition blast Argentine ban of British cruise ships

The British government said today it is "very concerned" that Argentina decided to turn away British ships from docking in the country. Provincial authorities prohibited two British-linked cruise ships from docking in Tierra del Fuego yesterday, upping the ante in Argentina's spat with Britain over the Malvinas.

'It's a source of sadness and frustration to us that people on holiday and wanting to further relations between ourselves and Argentina on a people-to-people level are not being able to do that,” Foreign Minister Jeremy Browne told members of the parliament.

'We enter the relationship with Argentina in a spirit of friendship, and it's source of sadness to us that they don't always do the same,' he said

Argentina's decision to block two UK cruise ships' entry to a dock was 'completely unjustified', the British opposition said today. According to international news agencies, Labour foreign spokesman John Spellar urged the government to complain to Argentina and the International Maritime Organisation on what he called a ‘completely and unjustified action´.

The latest incident came as tensions continue to mount between the two countries over the south Atlantic archipelago, ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1982 of the Malvinas war.