The adoption of, we may safely say, Jerusalem as England's national anthem would not leave Northern Ireland singing God Save the Queen alone.
It also has various levels of status in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados and Tuvalu, as well as in the Crown Dependencies.
Plus, of course, in the British Overseas Territories, the cost of defending one of which, the tenth most populous out of 14 (three of which have no permanent inhabitants), is greater than would be the cost of declaring them all independent, each with an annual grant of one billion pounds in perpetuity.
The situation in Northern Ireland is obviously different, in that it is part of the United Kingdom, while the anthem thing would be only another of its numerous insistently "British" customs and practices that were almost or entirely unknown in Great Britain.
Nationalists and Republicans could no more accept an alternative anthem, or indeed an official flag, than could than the DUP or the Orange Order, each of which is like nothing that almost anyone over here has ever encountered.
To do so would be to accept the existence of Northern Ireland, as such, at least for anything like the foreseeable future. They do, in fact, rather more than accept that existence. But they cannot say so.
And it would take an awful lot more than one billion pounds to set Northern Ireland adrift. At least, it would in practice.
But if things ever again turned sufficiently sour as to be noticeable in Great Britain, and especially in London, then an exercise of Great Britain's right of self-determination would be highly likely, indeed pretty much certain.
That would be a declaration of independence from Northern Ireland, whether or not the Republic wanted it, which would be beside the point.
If, not very probably, the Republic did want Northern Ireland, but Northern Ireland did not want to be part of the Republic, then it would be Northern Ireland's responsibility to keep itself out of the Republic.
After all, was anyone in Great Britain given a vote on the Good Friday Agreement? Yet we all know where the bill was sent, and would have been sent for either outcome.
Likewise, there would be nothing to prevent, and there might very well be much to commend, hardly the first exercise of the United Kingdom's right of self-determination in relation to the British Overseas Territories.
That would be declaration of independence from them, whether or not Spain, or Argentina, or anywhere else, wanted any of them, which would be beside the point.
If Gibraltar did not want to be part of Spain, or the Falkland Islands did not want to be part of Argentina, then it would be Gibraltar's responsibility to keep itself out of Spain, or the Falkland Islands' responsibility to keep themselves out of Argentina.
After all, was anyone in the United Kingdom given a vote in the referendum on independence in Bermuda in 1995, or in the referendum in Gibraltar in 2002, or in the referendum in the Falklands Islands in 2013?
Yet that last, at least, was deemed to keep the taxpayers of the United Kingdom under an enormous obligation, up to and including the loss of life if necessary. And to have done so, although in itself it is not quite the point, on the votes of precisely 1,513 people.
Well, even the 1,517 people who voted were not, and are not, the only people with rights in all of this. Although, unlike the rest of us, they do seem to enjoy their rights without the slightest concomitant responsibilities.
It also has various levels of status in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados and Tuvalu, as well as in the Crown Dependencies.
Plus, of course, in the British Overseas Territories, the cost of defending one of which, the tenth most populous out of 14 (three of which have no permanent inhabitants), is greater than would be the cost of declaring them all independent, each with an annual grant of one billion pounds in perpetuity.
The situation in Northern Ireland is obviously different, in that it is part of the United Kingdom, while the anthem thing would be only another of its numerous insistently "British" customs and practices that were almost or entirely unknown in Great Britain.
Nationalists and Republicans could no more accept an alternative anthem, or indeed an official flag, than could than the DUP or the Orange Order, each of which is like nothing that almost anyone over here has ever encountered.
To do so would be to accept the existence of Northern Ireland, as such, at least for anything like the foreseeable future. They do, in fact, rather more than accept that existence. But they cannot say so.
And it would take an awful lot more than one billion pounds to set Northern Ireland adrift. At least, it would in practice.
But if things ever again turned sufficiently sour as to be noticeable in Great Britain, and especially in London, then an exercise of Great Britain's right of self-determination would be highly likely, indeed pretty much certain.
That would be a declaration of independence from Northern Ireland, whether or not the Republic wanted it, which would be beside the point.
If, not very probably, the Republic did want Northern Ireland, but Northern Ireland did not want to be part of the Republic, then it would be Northern Ireland's responsibility to keep itself out of the Republic.
After all, was anyone in Great Britain given a vote on the Good Friday Agreement? Yet we all know where the bill was sent, and would have been sent for either outcome.
Likewise, there would be nothing to prevent, and there might very well be much to commend, hardly the first exercise of the United Kingdom's right of self-determination in relation to the British Overseas Territories.
That would be declaration of independence from them, whether or not Spain, or Argentina, or anywhere else, wanted any of them, which would be beside the point.
If Gibraltar did not want to be part of Spain, or the Falkland Islands did not want to be part of Argentina, then it would be Gibraltar's responsibility to keep itself out of Spain, or the Falkland Islands' responsibility to keep themselves out of Argentina.
After all, was anyone in the United Kingdom given a vote in the referendum on independence in Bermuda in 1995, or in the referendum in Gibraltar in 2002, or in the referendum in the Falklands Islands in 2013?
Yet that last, at least, was deemed to keep the taxpayers of the United Kingdom under an enormous obligation, up to and including the loss of life if necessary. And to have done so, although in itself it is not quite the point, on the votes of precisely 1,513 people.
Well, even the 1,517 people who voted were not, and are not, the only people with rights in all of this. Although, unlike the rest of us, they do seem to enjoy their rights without the slightest concomitant responsibilities.
""then it would be Gibraltar's responsibility to keep itself out of Spain, or the Falkland Islands' responsibility to keep themselves out of Argentina"
ReplyDeleteYea, because a population of 1,500 dependent on fishing, is really going to be able to defend itself against Argentina.
You fucking moron.
That's their problem. We have just walked out on far larger populations in our time. We have our own right of self-determination. We are not obliged to keep anywhere else merely because they say so. In any case, we can no longer afford to.
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