Oliver Brown - British Empire

The phrase "Perfidious Albion" may be countered by the South American oath "On the word of an Englishman ". There is, however, no contradiction. The French were drawing on their experience of the English politician, while the South Americans had known — thanks to the Monroe Doctrine - only the English business man.

The British Empire had its most glorious years under George the Third who died insane, under the premiership of William Pitt who died insane and through the brilliant leadership of Robert Clive who died insane.

Some clergymen writing in the "Glasgow Herald" has described as UnBritish the sacking of teachers who refuse to register. Has he never read British history?

An Empire based on piracy and slavery, the horrors of the Industrial Revolution, wars with the Chinese to secure the opium trade, the judicial murder of Wilson, Baird and Hardie, massacres from Drogheda to Amritsar, the Black and Tans, Cumberland, Judge Jeffreys and Lord Braxfield! What a record! (To say anything British is evil is a similar exaggeration in the opposite direction).

The British have never recoiled from any crime disguised thinly by a veil of hypocrisy as in the Suez failure under the unlamented Tories such as Alex. Douglas-Home and Anthony Eden.

When Ghandi was asked "What do yon think of British Culture?" he replied, "I think it is a very good idea!"

Why has crime risen in this island? The answer is simple. There is now no Empire. So the Warren Hastings of today rob banks instead of old nabobs and the Cecil Rhodes cosh old ladies instead of machine gunning the Matabele.