Delicious Poetic Justice

"Our empire was an amazing thing" Daily Telegraph headline, quoting from a piece, under the title, written by Jeremy Paxman (16 Feb 2012)


The article begins,
"The history of the British empire is full of amazing stories of adventure, of war, of greed and plunder, cruelty and courage, heroism and low cunning."  I think, this is exactly, what our unethical foreign policy has resulted in since we reluctantly found our empire was declining and enthusiastically threw in our lot with the USA empire!  Paxman's sentence must still apply to us when one 'Today' programme 'Thought for the Day' contributor announced that our nation had bombed or invaded 23 nations since 1945; Libya being the 23rd.


The very people who were and are most vocal in support for our glorious and mighty empire, are the very people who are most distressed at seeing foreigners on our streets.  One was my Uncle Robin who worked for Barclays in Durban, South Africa in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.  He was surprised (and appeared to disapprove) at the increasing number of black people he saw in the UK whenever he returned to the homeland.


In other words, we can colonise and populate and exploit their lands but we don't like it one little bit when they legally and peacefully (unlike us!) come and live in our land.  The boot is now on the other foot.


"Grab and brag; occupy and fortify."  A common Victorian sentiment, quoted by Paxman, about our 19th century pre-occupation of Britannia for ever ruling the waves - not just for a thousand years, like one western European nation once wanted.  So we have our so morally upright, virtuous and Christian nation gladly bowing down and worshipping the devil when the Founder of their religion roundly rejected that same temptation.


'Perfidious Albion' as someone described the UK.  Along with our foreign policy remaining hypocritical and profoundly unethical.  Robin Cook MP was the first Foreign Secretary, when he was in that position, to state that he was working towards a more ethical foreign policy.