Last hurrah of the British Empire

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is at a crossroads now. Will it remain as a single sovereign state, or fragment into constituent parts following the Brexit? If the creation of the United Kingdom had ushered in unprecedented prosperity for the British people, the break-up may reciprocally lead to hardship and dissipation of prosperity.

After centuries of internecine wars and conflicts in Europe as well as internal conflicts within the state, the beginning of the UK started when England and Scotland as kingdoms decided to end their war in 1707 (Acts of Union 1707) and unite together as the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Very soon after that, the conflict between England and France was also brought to an end.

The energy, creativity and resources that had been frittered away in such conflicts had now been channeled to creative purposes – for the upliftment of humanity, technical and scientific improvements, etc. – and that had led to unprecedented progress in every sphere of human endeavour. British ships (along with gunships) set sail across the seas and conquered vast tracts of lands across the world and created the British Empire. From Australia and New Zealand to Malaysia to India to parts of the Middle East and Africa to America, British power reigned supreme. Britain ruled the waves and the sun never set on the British Empire.

The Industrial Revolution and technological progress fuelled the vast empire. The need to move man and material at faster and faster speed led to improvements in the transport system (railways, waterways, steamboats), the need to subdue by force large numbers of indigenous people by a relatively small colonial power led to improved and more lethal military hardware. International commerce and trade flourished and Britain was almost at the centre of the universe. Time and space were specified by Britain – Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the international standard time and the meridian line demarcating the east from the west is also at Greenwich.

But then the two World Wars changed the established order. Although Britain as part of the Allied Power structure did win the World Wars, the grievous bodily harm inflicted on Britain turned out to have been almost terminal. America maintained neutrality for over two years in WWII and only entered the war after Pearl Harbour was attacked by Japan in December, 1941. American entry changed the whole dynamics of the war. However, by the time the war ended in 1945, not only Britain but also other colonial powers of Europe were literally in a state of 'dead men walking'.

America, despite benefitting enormously economically, technically and politically from the wars, tried to remove the casus belli of future conflicts by persuading the erstwhile European colonial powers to dismantle colonies and adopt universal human rights. Britain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal did gradually decolonise their foreign territories and withdrew to their motherlands. The last century can thus truly be called the 'Age of Decolonisation'.

Whether this process of decolonisation was executed too hastily or not is a matter for historians to decide, but one thing is certain: many of the present-day problems have their roots in an ill-conceived, hastily concluded decolonisation process – examples are Palestine, Kashmir, Yemen and so forth. At the same time, the hardcore colonialists of the European countries did not have enough time to reconcile themselves and continued to live in a make-believe world of their own.

However, bureaucrats and conscientious politicians in the colonial powers accepted the new world quite graciously. But the 'blue blooded' xenophobic populace and the dissenting politicians, mainly belonging to the Tory Party in the UK and racist organisations, could not bear to accept it and dreamt of 'ruling the waves' all over again.

A fragmented Europe with large numbers of conflicting interests would create a situation similar to that which had caused the World Wars. So, a politico-economic movement comprising western states was initiated in the form of the European Economic Area (EEA), which over time evolved into the European Union (EU).

But the internecine conflicts between the xenophobic and the moderate wings of the Tory Party was never too far below the surface. How could the xenophobic 'blue blood' Tory politicians accept laws, regulations and directives emanating from Brussels and assimilate them into British laws, whereas previously British politicians used to pass laws and regulations for the entire empire stretching from Australia to Asia to Africa right up to Canada? They egregiously claimed that the laws and directives passed by "unelected bureaucrats" in Brussels had to be passed by democratically elected members of the British parliament – the mother of all parliaments. Hardly do these members realise that the laws emanating from Brussels were passed by MEPs, who were elected by much larger constituencies than those which elected the corresponding British parliamentarians! (Iain Duncan Smith, an ex-leader of the Tories and ex-secretary of state (and a leading Brexiteer) infamously even referred to MEPs as unelected!).

On top of that, these self-aggrandising 'blue blooded' Tory MPs could not reconcile themselves to the idea that Britain as one of 28 member states would have the same power and authority as any other, much smaller state such as Cyprus or Lithuania or Malta. These politicians felt that their authority and world dominance had been very badly diluted by the EU.

So, in the recent EU referendum (on 23 June 2016) they thundered, "take back control" and "the future is bright" for Britain outside the EU. With many other buzzwords and many brazen lies, they managed to muster 52.9% of the vote in favour of leaving the EU as against 47.1% who wanted to remain. Despite the narrow margin, the Brexiteers loudly claim that the people's mandate to leave the EU must be upheld. Little do they realise that if the people's mandate is deemed so sacrosanct, then Scotland with 60% of a remain vote and Northern Ireland with 62% voting to remain cannot be pulled out of Europe against their wishes.

The union of 1707 AD between the kingdom of England and the kingdom of Scotland is in danger of falling apart as their paths are in opposite directions. If the UK pulls out, the only recourse for Scotland is to abrogate the union treaty and seek independence in a referendum. If Scotland succeeds, then the sovereign state called the UK will no longer exist. England on its own (probably with Wales) would stay outside the EU, outside the single market and outside many other international organisations. A small isolated country with hardly any influence in world affairs will be hard pressed to justify its permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

The British Empire, which one day "ruled the waves" and where "the sun never set", may find resting ground in a small state on the fringes of Europe. The 'blue blooded' politicians who are loudly proclaiming their intention to "take back control" from the EU may find themselves as total non-entities in the comity of nations.

The thunderous voice of the Brexiteers taking "back control" and projecting the thought that "the future is bright" may be the last hurrah of the Empire. The falling value of the pound, falling standards of living, rise in inflation and rise in unemployment cannot be deemed to be a "bright future". The decision to pull out of the EU is likely to be the last act in the decline and fall of the British Empire.