TIME TO TAKE PRIDE

  May 4, 2020 11:48 am Stephen Day 1308

TIME TO TAKE PRIDE

Don't you get sick of so called "liberal" elements running Britain down? In some ways, such attitudes are almost becoming institutionalised in certain influential UK quarters, the so called "education sector" being a prime exponent of expunging any pride in UK and its history. Nor are they alone in that.

For instance, most folk I know believe the Queen's recent speech about the coronavirus crisis struck the right note. Compassion, leadership, love of her people and sense of duty shone throughout it. Her record as monarch is impeccable and for the majority, beyond reproach.

Sadly, some UK comment, just after the Queen's unifying and inspiring address, particularly from those of a "class war" mentality, defies description. The fact she is rich and lives in a Palace (actually in an apartment within it) was enough to prompt hateful bile in some "social media" quarters. What would they prefer? Our Head of State being penniless and squatting under a London bridge? Perhaps some politician as president, who like Macron or Trump, would divide UK instead of uniting it, in this time of crisis? What politician is as respected as Her Majesty? You guessed it, not one.

She is the longest serving and most experienced head of state in the world. She fulfils that role for 16 countries. She heads the Commonwealth and embodies Britain's constitutional continuity and stability, projecting it to an admiring world. The value of a constitutional monarchy, born of evolution, not revolution, is more important than whichever individual currently fulfils the role. UK Monarchs reign, they do not rule. That means all political persuasions can unite behind them. That is so important, especially at times like these. The monarch embodies the State, but doesn't govern it. The police, the armed forces, the judiciary and politicians all swear loyalty to the monarch, not the government of the day. There lies the source of our freedoms and historical stability, that we Britons take so much for granted. I thank God and our history that UK is blessed by such a system.

If only entrenched elements of the UK educational system shared the same view. Encouraging debate, by providing students and pupils with both sides of an argument, so they can form their own opinion, is fine. Turning British history on its head and exclusively rubbishing it is not.

Our monarchy is not the only institution that is being rubbished. It has emerged that in many schools pupils have been taught that Winston Churchill was "a war criminal" not the leader who saw Britain through its darkest hour and led it to victory over the most vile, racist, dictatorial regime the world has ever seen, liberating both Europe and the Far East in the extremely sacrificial process.

Our youth are being taught that Empire was something to be ashamed of. Well, it did have its downsides. There was exploitation and slavery, but no more than any other European nation in centuries gone by. Britain was the first European power not only to ban slavery (well ahead of the USA for instance) but to send  its Royal Navy, across the world, to stamp it out. Worth a mention I would have thought.

Without the Empire, how would Britain have had the resources to save Europe from Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler? How could we have won two World Wars without the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies, the African colonies and India? All creations of Empire (including the USA), who hated it so much their people came in their millions to save "the mother country" and free the world. We should honour them all.

That Empire spread more than the Union Flag across the planet. It brought the rule of law, an independent judiciary, parliamentary democracy and stability in its wake. Modern India being the classic example. India's Army, Air Force, Navy, law courts and parliamentary system are all mirror images of Britain. It is the now the greatest, rapidly developing democracy in Asia. We should be proud of it. India was a patchwork of warring principalities before the British arrived.

Uniquely, the Empire didn't die, it evolved into something else - the Commonwealth. The most successful voluntary family of nations the world has ever seen. It gives Britain a diplomatic reach, trading partnerships and influence other nations can only dream about. Vital, to a post Brexit and post Covid 19 Britain. Without doubt, we British had our exploiters, profiteers, buccaneers, pirates, racists and slave traders, but so did the rest of Europe (the Spanish in particular). In the mindset of those days, we were just better at it.

The result was Empire, not by design, but by accident, perhaps the only Empire in history ever created that way. British governments didn't plant the flag. Explorers and settlers who had nothing to lose did, venturing into the unknown, braving harsh climates, taming wild lands and creating new countries. The flag and the army simply followed them, often reluctantly and usually at the settlers demand.

To understand the past, you have to accept the mindset and circumstances of the time, even if you find them abhorrent. Applying modern morality simply warps history. It's time for the UK liberal establishment to accept that and stop filling our children's heads full of politically correct, history warping nonsense. It's time to take pride.



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