UK Politics Thread

I’m descended from immigrants, I often wonder if my ancestors arriving here about 500 years ago is long enough for some of them to class me as proper British.
My ancestors being white is probably the major factor in people not asking me where I’m really from.

My parents are increasingly less bordeline racists and more obvious ones (a refelection of age, The Mail on a weekend, living in a small predominantly white village and lack of diversity in their upbrinings).

They are all for sinking the boats before they even arrive. Yet i'm a quarter dutch from my mother's side after my nan's displacement from the 2nd world war so we are far from thoroughbred english...

I try to explain a one world philosophy but just get shot down by comments that the world just doesn't work like that. I get that but if we don't at least strive for it... it never will be...

I guess we're all just Chasing Cars.

Bloody Beaker folk. Coming over here, rowing up the Tagus Estuary from the Iberian Peninsula in improvised rafts. Coming here with their drinking vessels. What's wrong with just cupping up the water in your hands and licking it up like a cat?

Britain having more power and influence, and held in high regard by most other countries, than a country of our size should is the only thing I’m proud of.

And yet the last 8 years we’ve done almost everything possible to undermine and ruin all of that.

Is that the one who was angry at Spock and had the big green ship?

Why would any of that probably mean England?

There's various shared bits tea, fried breakfast, roasts, the music, actors/tv/film, actual fucking pubs not bars. Though quite a bit of that overlaps with Ireland.

Not being a nation-state helps. The UK has been quite adaptable to doing live and let live or adopting stuff such as curries with a relatively minimal amount of fus. Plus being a flag wanker is still considered gauche as fuck. Excepting the Tories having a bonk on the Republican Party. If it's outside of football time anyone with a fucking flag on their house is considered a wanker still.

Which is 100% legacy from colonialism, and not really anything to be proud of.

I think our history of innovation in the arts and sciences is the only thing I really feel any sense of national pride towards. And that too is probably related to colonialism somehow.

Virtually no one (presumably people who've never used WhatsApp and lost/had a phone die on them) believes Sunak over his missing messages.

Genuinely can't access them: 11%
Probably could if he wanted: 71%

yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2023/12/11/5cd41/1

We should all give them the response Alan Partridge got from reception when he "accidentally" ordered Bangkok Chick Boys

Ed Sheeran. That's built on being awful to people in the present.

I think two big differences between the British Empire and Rome, the Ottomans or Persia is that it was truly arguably the only truly global empire and second, there are still people alive today who were subjects of the Empire.

There are wars being fought today that partly the consequence of British colonial actions.

On the positive side, you could argue that the British Empire was the most influential force in ushering in the modern age as it spread the industrial revolution around the world. But then, that gives us a historic stake in climate change.

I think there’s a decent case to be made that the Commonwealth and the way Britain has (broadly) acted since WW2 has seen us use our position as (in general) a force for good. But it is a complicated one.

My general opinion is that we should recognise that bad but use our position now to try and do good. If we have influence, use it, if we have wealth, use it, if we have tech that can be shared, do that too. Can’t change the past but don’t forget it either.

We could certainly do more to recognise and payback for the bad that was done but I think that awareness and action is different from the idea people should feel actively guilty about it. But then I’m a white Briton so maybe I’m not best placed to judge.

It’d be good if more of it was taught in schools though. Like how many children (and indeed adults) only learnt what the Partition of India was because of Doctor Who and Ms Marvel both doing episodes about it a couple if years ago?

Education and historical awareness would probably help us as a country in general.

I mean, nations by their very nature are generally looking out for themselves first. Plus governments are looking out for internal approval, and politicians are looking out for themselves.

But given all those factors, I would argue that the UK has generally been on the side of 'good' in recent years. Not always, and not always purely altruistically, but sometimes.
If you were to name other countries that have been bigger forces for good since WW2, I'm not sure the list would be especially long.

Partly that's due to simply being a democratic nation that, at least until recently, held some level of respect around the world. Also things like foreign aid, etc.. And being part of the creation of a lot of these international organizations like the UN (with many others of course)

You could definitely argue that we're too beholden to the US (though again, that's probably better than being beholden to most other superpowers). But I'd also argue that pretty much all UK involvement in military action since 1990 has been largely motivated by concerns such as peace-keeping, rather than attempts to grab territory or resources.
It often hasn't been successful, but it's largely had public support (at least initially) because people have generally wanted to do the right thing and help people.

These things are rarely clear cut, and you could argue that the UK and US should take an isolationist view and stay out of things (as russia and china do). On the other hand that would be arguing to stand by and do nothing in places like Ukraine or Yugoslavia. Better or worse choice, I couldn't really say.

I don't think you can describe Russia's policy as isolationist. They're involved in loads of other people's conflicts.