On television, Margaret Thatcher argued with a teacher

Argentina's military government invaded the Falkland Islands, which the British claimed as a colony, in 1982 due to long-standing territorial disputes. The 10-week Falkland Islands War began after Thatcher dispatched British soldiers and vessels. 323 people were killed when she gave the order for the Navy to sink the Argentinean cruiser ARA General Belgrano. This represented half of Argentina's wartime casualties.

Thatcher made an election-themed appearance on the BBC news program Nationwide a year later. British citizens were invited to ask Thatcher questions live on camera. Diana Gould, a primary school teacher in Cirencester, questioned Thatcher about the Belgrano's sinking.

“Why did you give the order to sink the Argentine battleship Belgrano when it was beyond the exclusion zone and actively sailing away from the Falklands?” Gould queried. Thatcher reaffirmed, "When it was sunk, it was a risk to our ships." But Gould steadfastly insisted that it was not in an area the British had considered unsafe for ships by way of an "exclusion zone."

Thatcher responded, "I think it could only be in Britain that a prime minister was accused of sinking an enemy ship that was a danger to our navy, when my main motive was to protect the boys in our navy," and continued, "One day, all the facts will be revealed and they will indicate as I have said." Thatcher was agitated as she made her remarks.

Thatcher and her husband immediately exited the studio following the interview. The BBC, according to Denis Thatcher, is "a nest of long-haired Trots and wooftahs."