General attacks Beckett and Blair over lack of 'moral certainty'

General Sir Michael Rose, who went on to command British forces in Bosnia, echoed the outrage expressed by veterans after Mrs Beckett voiced 'continuing regret' over both British and Argentine casualties.

Writing in today's Daily Mail, he accuses the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister of getting the commemoration of yesterday's 25th anniversary wrong.

And he blames Mr Blair for the loss of Britain's international reputation, claiming he had gone to war in Iraq on a 'false justification'.

Mrs Beckett was hit by a public outcry led by veterans yesterday after she issued a formal statement which made no attempt to highlight the achievement of British forces against considerable odds in the Falklands.

There are fears the Foreign Secretary's conciliatory approach will be interpreted as a sign of weakness in Argentina, which is experiencing resurgent nationalism.

The country marked the anniversary of its failed attempt to regain the Falklands by force by reasserting its claims to the territory. Using the islands' Argentine name, Vice President Daniel Scioli said at a commemoration service in Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city: 'Neither war nor the passage of time changes reality — Las Malvinas are Argentine.'

In contrast to Mrs Beckett's approach, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher marked the anniversary by expressing her pride in the actions of the 255 Britons who died.

Dressed all in black — as she was throughout the 74-day conflict — she laid a wreath of yellow and white roses, lilies and orchids at the foot of the Falklands Memorial in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral.

It bore the words: 'In memory of those who have given their lives for Britain and for the Falklands Islands — Margaret Thatcher.'

Lady Thatcher, 81, was accompanied by Miss Sukie Cameron, the Falkland Islands representative in Britain, who herself laid a basket of lilies at the foot of the memorial.