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Should GB be a world power

(209 Posts)
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jinglbellsfrocks Thu 26-Nov-15 09:55:04

Umm. We're in the 21st century now. Remember?

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Anniebach Thu 26-Nov-15 09:53:20

Jingle, I assure you they do, we only left India in the forties

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jinglbellsfrocks Thu 26-Nov-15 09:51:57

I doubt many people can remember, or know much about 'British raj days' grin

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jinglbellsfrocks Thu 26-Nov-15 09:50:53

Rubbish.

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Anniebach Thu 26-Nov-15 09:49:43

We are not a world power, we trot along behind America and jump when they say jump . Some are still holding dreams of the British Raj days

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jinglbellsfrocks Thu 26-Nov-15 09:44:50

Did you not listen to the budget yesterday? Don't you realise GO is doing his best to balance the books, to include the lot of it?!

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jinglbellsfrocks Thu 26-Nov-15 09:41:26

We are a world power! The City of London is at the heart of finance. We have the best military, and security services, of anywhere in the world.

It's got nothing to do with any "empirical dream world"! hmm

And how would you describe standing up to, and trying to rid the world of, an evil, rapidly growing, group of people who would really really like to become a "World Power", if not with the phrase "going to war"? confused

Oh, I know. You want to sit back and hope other people do the defending for us. Really?!

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mollie Thu 26-Nov-15 09:29:27

My heart agrees with you. We had our day and I'd be happy if we (they, the government) put more effort into what happens here. But I know that others will have a valid and forceful argument for us continuing to try to be centre stage. Over to them...

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vampirequeen Thu 26-Nov-15 08:55:18

This is a genuine attempt to start a discussion so although this is my opinion please don't simply shoot me down in flames.

A century ago GB was indeed a world power. The Empire was built through a mixture of exploration, annexation, trade and military intervention. At that time the adage that 'the sun never set on the British Empire' was true and GB was a strong, rich military and industrial power.

Jump forward to 2015. The British Empire no longer exists and British industry has to fight to survive in a competitive international market.

Many fail to see this and still live in a empirical dream world where GB is still the centre of the universe. Isn't it time to face facts? GB is a small, insignificant county. Still rich compared to many countries but not the power it used to be. With this in mind should we really see ourselves as a world police force. Cutting defence (a weird way of describing going to war) spending would free up so much money. I'm not saying all of it but do we really need nuclear weapons and other first strike capabilities. Education, the NHS, pensions, disability benefits, housing and a host of other things which benefit the British people could be improved by increased spending.

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