Great Britain (the title of England, Wales and Scotland in use since 1474) is getting to the end of its credible life. It is, indeed, true that in world terms Britain was great and had the largest empire ever (in terms of land area). Once upon a time it was true that “The sun never sets on the British Empire,” because the empire consisted of colonies all over the world. After World War II, British imperialism began to wane as the United Kingdom granted independence to most of its colonial possessions.
Britain's wealth and place in the world came as a result of its power and the fact that it subjugated or conquered so much of the world. Britain was great and few could deny that. During the last 70 years we have still been amongst the countries in the world with a major say in, and influence on, world affairs.
However reality has now to be faced and whilst Britain leads the world in many areas it is no longer an imperial player and it has to accept that size matters. The USA and Chinese blocs may fight it out and the economic might of the European Economic Community will be a massive player but Britain, despite its residual economic power and its armed forces and, of course, being a nuclear power, is no longer the great power that it once was. At present we are in danger of becoming irrelevant and, worse still a laughing stock.
Why? Well, amongst many other reasons, we withdrew from the EC. So we think we can do as we please but have no clout against a bloc of such powerful nations. We are no longer of any use to the US as an insider in Europe. I should not be surprised if The Commonwealth slowly (possibly speedily) ceases to exist as we become less and less relevant to the individual countries involved. Indeed when Queen Elizabeth ceases to be monarch a huge emotional Commonwealth loyalty will disappear.
However, whilst all these mighty issues march on, Great Britain is free to reconsider its use of the Metric System and revert to the post 1826 Imperial weights and measures (previously or otherwise known as the English System).
It is this latter possible debate that brings me to consider whether there is any chance that there might be any situation where our Government and Downing Street in particular considers the return of the scruple.
NOTE. For those unaware of Britain's former weights and measures a 'scruple' was a small amount of something equivalent to 20 grains used in the system of apothecaries' weight used by pharmacists. In plain English a 'scruple' is a sense of right and wrong that keeps a person from doing something bad or a feeling of guilt from doing something bad.
To connect the word scruple with a politician is a bit of a stretch, Graham, especially your current Prime Minister, who apparently has survived a challenge to his leadership (?). As you know, Canada is still a constitutional monarchy and while there is a good deal of republican sentiment in the country the mechanism to change it is so cumbersome, I am not sure how it could ever happen. Having said that, I think there is very little appetite for King Charles. When I last visited Australia there was a robust discussion going on there about holding another referendum to ditch the monarchy, the problem seeming to be what to replace it with. On that point, agreement was hard to come by.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your informative comment, David. I'm not au fait with the Canadian or Australian situation but New Zealand has considered the matter fairly recently and it could be achieved by a simple Act of Parliament. It will be very interesting to see what appetite there is here for the continuation of a constitutional monarchy. Mind you the current Prime Minister's antics might be a factor in persuading people of all political persuasions against the idea of a republic.
DeleteThe return of the Scruple might just be one of the less bizarre things our current government seem to think it worth spending time and resources on.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would like them first to bring back integrity, but I doubt many in Downing Street or other corridors of power know what it means. Feeling cynical today? Maybe a little . . .
Jayne, how, in the current political climate, could you possibly be so cynical. Oh no. Sorry. That should read "could you possibly not feel so cynical."
DeleteI am not sure that Scruples and politics go together.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, I wish they did but it would seem that that is a forlorn wish.
DeleteI do not feel entitled to say anything meaningful to this, but I think you know what I think of Brexit.
ReplyDeleteMeike, I respect your views. Anyone is free to have a view on Brexit because it has affected everyone in Europe and far beyond.
DeleteGiven the bullying for land, resources, ego stuffing going on in the world, a small size with big friends going through changes is something to think about when the he wears the crown.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Maywyn, indeed.
DeleteGraham, what a marvellous post. Your last paragraph re scruples made me laugh. Laugh as an alternative, and preferable, to crying.
ReplyDeleteYou do know, of course, that you couldn't have chosen a better day to air your view than the day the Prime Minister's Ethics Adviser felt compelled to resign.
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Well I never thought that I'd get such praise from you, Ursula. I have just read that the Ethics Adviser has felt compelled to resign. It shows that there is at least one person with scruples.
DeleteSometimes I think we are living in the end days of the Western Civilization, especially as Britain rapidly loses its "Great" and America is also losing its way in the world. There are other powers rising, and we no longer have the dominance that we once had. I believe the process is called History in the Making :)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, i think what you say is very apt. I would certainly say that I'd rather be the age I am now that the age of my grandson or even my son.
DeleteI'm not sure how many people see and recognize the demise of Great Britain. In Canada , we don't think about the monarchy. When I was in school in the 40's and 50's the monarchy was still important.
ReplyDeleteRed, I'm not sure how many people in Britain or the world in general see Britain's demise. I suspect the sad thing for Britain is that few outside it care any more.
DeleteI tend to agree with you, there are those who are desperate to turn GB into some insular, Union run, benefits friendly, do-what-you-like, nation. 12 is a much more useful number than 10, it can be divided by 6, 4, 3, and 2. 10 can only be divided by 2.
ReplyDelete...and 5.
DeleteCro, I'm not quite sure that is what I said. However that may well be the effect of what is happening. Does the fact that a number is divisible by a greater number make it more useful? I think a very good argument could be made for the reverse of that. After all the metric system is used by countries representing 90 percent of the world's population and three-fourths of world trade is carried out in metric measurements.
DeleteYes, and 5. Woops.
DeleteScruples seem to be in short supply among a lot of our politicians in the US. I am wondering if it has always been this way but we didn't always hear about it. The internet spreads all of the disinformation too easily and many take advantage of that.
ReplyDeleteEllen, I suspect you may be correct about lack of scruples in politicians. In British Parliament breaches of trust etc were dealt with harshly and were usually a resignation matter. Out current Prime Minister seems to consider the bigger the lie the bigger the badge of honour.
DeleteBritain or maybe just England and Wales will never become "irrelevant". However, Johnson and his gang have done this kingdom no favours with the Brexit fiasco and all that has followed. With a lying clown as P.M., our star certainly seems to have fallen. We should be together with our friends and neighbours - not striking out on an unplanned and ill-considered independent journey.
ReplyDeleteYP, I agree with your post after the first sentence. However, I can't see why you included the words "or maybe just England and Wales". I can see that Northern Ireland may feel itself more appropriately part of the Country of Ireland. Why have you omitted Scotland? It is arguable that without Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales would become even less relevant.
DeleteI enjoyed this as a clever piece of writing - although at the same time I hope Britain will remain "great" (even if the meaning may have to be modified compared to the days of being the world's largest empire). It will indeed be interesting to see what happens when the Crown passes to the next generation. - I did not know 'scruple' was an old measure. We do use the same word in Swedish though, in the moral sense.
ReplyDeleteWe do, too, Monica. Skrupel is only always used in the moral sense here, and like you, I didn't know it is an old measure.
DeleteThank you for the writing compliment, Monica. Unfortunately I think our present leader has done so much damage to our reputation internationally that it will take a great deal to restore our credibility. Internally in some ways we have almost become as divided a society as the US.
DeleteAs you said, "Internally in some ways we have almost become as divided a society as the US." But at least in the UK you don't have to worry about a demented neighbor being armed to the teeth with a variety of guns, threatening you because you are (and I quote) " a f...ing liberal." True story. Fortunately, the neighbor has since moved. Sadly, there are plenty of other nut jobs around just like him. Both the US and the UK--not to mention democracy--have been gravely, perhaps irreparably, wounded by recent so-called leaders. Fervently hoping that the US does not see the return of the idiot or that will seal our demise. Mary
DeleteMary, I am exceptionally grateful that we don't have the same firearms problems. On the whole our police do not carry firearms either which probably saves us from the worst criminals carrying arms as a matter of course. The one recent occasion (1996 when we had a school massacre using ordinary hand guns) led to the owning of ordinary firearms being made generally illegal. There was little objection to such a law. Our politics also tend to be a little more blurred and, on the whole less extreme. My beliefs are very middle of the road by UK standards but would, I think, be regarded as very "f...ing liberal" by American standards.
DeleteAll over the world is changing, and sadly, in too many areas, not for the better.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Lee, absolutely true.
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