The British Overseas Territories are British by
choice, and those which remain even now always will be. The same is true of the
Crown Dependencies.
To be British is to be not just any, but at some level all, of English, Scots, Welsh, Irish, Manx, Channel Islander, Mediterranean, North American, Caribbean, Southern African Creole (I am one, albeit a half-Scots one), Indian Ocean Creole, Polynesian, and South American in the sense of a product of the British "informal empire" that once dominated South America.
Sort out the problem of the British tax havens. But do so while charging the British people of the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies only home fees to study at British universities. Do so while building the airport on Saint Helena, which is essential to the defence of the Falkland Islands, and while holding a proper inquiry into the healthcare situation on Saint Helena. Do so while giving justice to the Ascension Islanders and to the Chagossians, in both cases regardless of what a foreign power might think.
To be British is to be not just any, but at some level all, of English, Scots, Welsh, Irish, Manx, Channel Islander, Mediterranean, North American, Caribbean, Southern African Creole (I am one, albeit a half-Scots one), Indian Ocean Creole, Polynesian, and South American in the sense of a product of the British "informal empire" that once dominated South America.
Sort out the problem of the British tax havens. But do so while charging the British people of the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies only home fees to study at British universities. Do so while building the airport on Saint Helena, which is essential to the defence of the Falkland Islands, and while holding a proper inquiry into the healthcare situation on Saint Helena. Do so while giving justice to the Ascension Islanders and to the Chagossians, in both cases regardless of what a foreign power might think.
Do so while restoring the BBC English for the Caribbean Service. And do so while recanting David Cameron's pre-Election pledge, barely reported by his media creators, to give a share of Falkland Islands oil revenue to Argentina without requiring the slightest movement on the sovereignty question. When is there going to be a Commons vote on that?
No comments:
Post a Comment