Are you as fed up as I am with left wing parties and many in the media constantly running down our past? They demand apologies for historical bad conduct only from Britain. They rightly condemn slavery but do not insist on statute removal of Roman artefacts, a society based on violent conquest, slavery and an army of occupation. They ignore the U.K. role in ending the slave trade. So here to provide balance and perspective are 10 things to be proud of in U.K. history.
1. Great Britain has pioneered many crucial technological advances that have raised world living standards. There was the steam engine, factory organisation, the jet engine, vaccines and many great products from the Industrial revolution to the worldwide web.
2. The U.K. pioneered universal suffrage and democratic government through the Glorious Revolution to the great Reform Bill and votes for women.
3. The U.K. stood alone against Germany’s attempt to govern Europe with an army of conquest, later joining with the USA and USSR to end the tyranny and genocide.
4. The U.K. has made a huge cultural contribution to the world. Shakespeare is the world’s greatest dramatist. His plays are acted and filmed worldwide today because they capture eternal truths about mankind.
5. The U.K. pioneered relief of poverty from the provision of money under the early Poor laws by parishes through to the post 1945 comprehensive pension and benefits system.
6. The U.K. has stood up for the self determination of peoples and rescued smaller countries from invasion and aggression by violent neighbours. The U.K. sided with the Netherlands against Spanish occupation, defeated Napoleon’s efforts to invade many European countries and helped liberate Kuwait.
7. The U.K. has been a leading force for free trade worldwide.
8. The U.K. invented or developed football, cricket, rugby and lawn tennis as global sports, bringing much entertainment to a world in need of joy.
9. The U.K. developed modern farming techniques from selective breeding to higher yielding crops to help eliminate starvation. .The U.K. has a big Aid programme helping bring improved agriculture to hungry countries.
10. Great Britain founded the east coast settlements in North America that fathered the USA, the most powerful and innovative nation on earth. The drivers of US independence based their thoughts and actions on Great Britain’s political theories and structures.
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