evidence: Never has such a small piece of land caused so much of a stushie, one that has been going on for centuries. Ireland and Denmark, via the Faroe Islands, have also claimed Rockall as theirs in the past, due probably to the fishing and oil exploration rights that will come with possession of the islet. Just 56ft high, 80ft wide and 102ft long (17.5m x 25m x 31m) Rockall is a volcanic plug which rises sheer from the skerries known as Helen’s Reef lying in about 80 metres of the Atlantic Ocean. It is uninhabitable with no vegetation, not least because it is regularly swamped by Atlantic storms. [...] Ten years later, Ireland was still arguing about Rockall, and the Westminster Parliament was still debating. Sir John Biggs-Davison asked Secretary of State for Scotland George Younger: "In view of renewed interest by certain politicians in the Irish Republic, will my right hon. Friend affirm, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, that though it be uninhabited, and notwithstanding any negotiations on the law of the sea, Rockall is sovereign territory of the United Kingdom and will so remain?"