RD: Some of what you say is true. BUT the UK -IS- somewhere special
thank
you very much, and not only to Brits. Ask the people of Gibraltar
or the
Falkland islands. The UK - not forgetting the Empire and
Commonwealth -
stood alone for freedom and democray when the rest of Europe rolled
over.
The UK hasn't been conquered by a foreign invader since 1066 and
there
aren't many European (or other) countries that can say the same.
The UK was
one of the last major European powers to get involved in the slave
trade,
the first to abolish it, and it was thanks to the Royal Navy that
the trade
was stamped out.
The UK may not be a world leader any more, but it has a long and
proud
history of supporting the underdog against the oppressor, the rights
of the
individual against those of the state, and standards of decency and
fair
play generally.
And therein lies one of the problems with the UK: it lives too much in
the past instead of looking to the future.
Gavin
ยทยทยท
On 13/01/02 6:57 PM, r.devereux@virgin.net wrote: