Nation Revisited # 214 July 2023

A History of Borrowing

Britain had always borrowed money to fight foreign wars. In the old days we didn't use the money for social services because they didn't exist. Parishes tried to look after the destitute but there was no nation provision for the poor..

We really cottoned on to borrowing during the Napoleonic Wars when an obliging Nathan Rothschild, a German bullion dealer, lent the British Government the money to finance Wellington's army, and made a killing on the London Stock Exchange by betting on the result using insider information.

Incidentally, I met Nathan's descendant, Evelyn Rothschild, during the building of the Queen's stand at Epsom Racecourse. He was the Secretary of the Jockey Club which owned the site. He was a tall, elegant man of aristocratic bearing. A tribute to the power of assimilation. 

The Rothschild experience established a pattern that endures to this day. We borrowed the money for the Crimean War, the South African War, the First World War, and the Second World War. By 1945 we had 3,000,000 men under arms but poverty was widespread, our industries were in ruins and out transportation system had suffered heavily from the bombing. 

When I was a boy, just after the war, our local shop operated an informal credit system. Mother would give me a shopping list and tell me to tell Mrs Brown the grocer that she would pay her at the end of the week.

Working class people never had bank accounts in those days. They used to get paid in cash  and if someone got a cheque he would get a publican to change it for a small fee.

People borrowed because they had no choice. Britain was bankrupt after six years of war  and taxes were even higher than they are today. Not that they effected the working class who didn't earn enough money tom pay taxes. It was the upper class that lost their stately homes and the middle class, the backbone of the nation, that were taxed the most.

The post-war Labour government launched a massive house building program, started the National Health Service and built a British Atomic Bomb, all on borrowed money

Britain scuttled out of India and Palestine as soon as possible because our once-mighty empire had become an intolerable drain on resources.

In 1950 the Korean War broke out and the government was forced to reduce NHS dental care to save money.

All of the African colonies were agitating for independence and the British Government soon lost interest in trying to protect white settlers, first Kenya was abandoned to black rule, then Rhodesia, and finally South Africa.

Prime Minister Harold Wilson was a race traitor of the first order but he kept us out of the Vietnam War. Nevertheless, we fought a series of ultimately pointless and financially crippling colonial wars in Malaya, Aden, Cyprus and Kenya. When we completely ran out of money Chancellor Denis Healey was forced to go cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund for a loan.

The discovery of oil and gas in the North Sea saved us in the 1970s. We were able to survive the 'Nixon Shock' that tore up the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade that tied the pound to the dollar.

The pound promptly started to sink until Margaret Thatcher linked it to the Deutschmark, but she did it at the wrong rate and we were thrown out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

Today, we are not at war but we are pouring money and missiles into Ukraine and  behaving like an imperial power. We are still giving foreign aid to India, a nuclear power with a thriving economy and an impressive space program..

Governments of all colours have slashed public spending but defence, and defence procurement, continues to cost untold billions. We now have two of the world's largest aircraft carriers, with very few planes fly off them, and we are currently renewing the Trident missile system that will never be used.. Of course, it's nice to have big ships that show the flag all over the world, but the money would be better spent on schools and hospitals.

Such showing off is part of the Imperial Mentality that clings to grand notions of sovereignty and independence.. The myth of our independence was exposed when Liz Truss's expansionist budget was soundly rejected by the bond market. We have almost reached the end of our credit limit and future governments will have to curb their addiction to borrowing.

Elections

Britain, France and the United States are all having elections. The American election is undoubtedly the most important because Washington rules the European Union and the United Kingdom. As I write the choice is between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but 'Sleepy Joe' is obviously suffering from dementia and he may be replaced as the presidential candidate, even at this late stage.

Donald Trump is a swindler, a sex pest and a liar, but he is not a warmonger and he doesn't seek to perpetuate the anti-Russian line. 

In France Marine le Pen's National Rally has increased its vote and gained a majority in the French National Assembly., but President Macron will probably stay in power due to the complexity of the French electoral system. Madam le Pen has dropped her opposition to the EU and the Euro, like her counterpart in Italy, Georgia Meloni, she will adapt her 'fascism' to suit reality.

The UK approaches election day with barely controlled indifference. After 14 years of Tory rule the country is sick of one cock-up after another. We have gone through a financial crisis, a pandemic, a war in Europe, and Liz Truss's kamikaze budget but the biggest blow to our economy was Brexit. There is now a reported majority in favour of re-joining the EU, but only the minority Liberal Democrats and the Greens are supportive. The Tories are in the grip of the lunatic right and  the Labour Party id frightened of its so-called Red Wall. 

The Tories have a deceitful immigration policy that concentrates on stopping 40,000 so-called  illegal immigrants whilst welcoming over a million legals. Labour also have an unannounced plan that's thought to include a visa scheme and a general amnesty for those already here.

According to the opinion polls, a Labour landslide victory is predicted. The Tories will  be decimated, the Liberal Democrats will improve their performance, and the newly-formed Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage,  will suffer the same fat as Ukip, lots of votes but very few seats under first-past-the-post.

And when the counting is done and new bottoms occupy the seats of power, nothing much will have changed. The widening gap between rich and poor will probably get bigger, non-Europeans will continue to pour into Europe and North America, and war veterans will still be sleeping in doorways.

The demographic crisis effecting all three countries is very real. We need selective immigration to maintain our services, but uncontrolled and indiscriminate immigration will destroy us, unless we take urgent and co-ordinated steps to stem the tide.

Nation Revisited

Sorry that this issue is shorter than usual. I am suffering from an eye complaint called Macular Oedema for which I am being treated. This means that I find it difficult to type. I hope things will be back to normal in the near future. Our sister blog is posted on - .

European Outlook -  https://europeanoutlook.blogspot.com 

All articles are by Bill Baillie unless otherwise stated. The opinions of guest writers are entirely their own. The editor reserves the right to shorten or otherwise amend articles submitted for publication. We seek reform by lawful means according to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19:

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