Britain going downhill is no surprise!

It was the epicentre of a vast empire once and was called ‘the empire on which the sun never sets.’ That was in the 18th & 19th centuries and the early part of the 20th century when some parts of it had sunshine, anytime in the day, due to the sheer vastness of the British Empire. That was no mean feat for a small European country with a relatively small population that changed the world, with the Industrial revolution at the height of its empire. What is its position today? Though some attempt to label it as a small, inconsequential European country, it still has a clout beyond its size. However, there is no doubt whatsoever that it is on a downhill slope, mostly because of the actions of politicians.

Britain became bankrupt by fighting World War II to save Europe from the aggression of Hitler, a fact often forgotten by some of the ungrateful European nations. Despite this, the British NHS was established in 1948 as there were politicians with foresight like Aneurin Bevan. In no time it gained the reputation of being the best healthcare system in the world as it delivered free universal health care. However, some latter-day politicians, who worshipped ‘Uncle Sam,’ wanted to ape the American system, though it was never shown to be as effective, by changing it to a better managed system with disastrous consequences, as explained in my article “Shock therapy for ailing British NHS” (The Island, 17 March).

Politicians peddling free market economies encouraged the foreign ownership of all that was proudly British, not sparing even the likes of Rolls-Royce and Cadburys! London Heathrow Airport was once the pride of Britain and, not so long ago, was the busiest international airport in the world but started stagnating probably, at least in part, due to foreign ownership. Countries like China and even India built many airports while arguments continued, led by environmentalists, about the third runway in Heathrow, which is badly needed as aircraft are forced to circulate over London till a landing slot is available, which has happened to me on many occasions.

Heathrow is still the busiest airport in Europe, fourth busiest in the world based on passenger traffic but second busiest if based on international passenger traffic and the airport with most international connections. But in the early hours of 21st March, it became the laughing stock of the world, and the anger of many, as the authorities decided to close the airport for 24 hours due to a power outage caused by a fire in an electric substation. The Chief Executive, who later claimed he was proud how the airport handled the situation, went to bed leaving it to his deputy who chose to close the airport fully for 24 hours leading to cancellation of 1352 flights whilst inconveniencing over 290,000 passengers, instead of continually assessing the situation. Apparently, by 3 pm power in Terminal 5, exclusive to British Airways, was back on and British Airways, which operates half the flights in and out of Heathrow, could have been operational. Further, it transpired later that power from two alternate substations had been available! I do not know whether these things happen because major decisions are taken by people who do not have a sense of belonging.

For a long time, we have known the vagaries of the American system but up to now we have, to an extent, believed in the fair play of the British system but the recent decision to impose sanctions on three previous service chiefs’ shatters that image and exposes the moral decay of the once great power, Britain! To add insult to injury, a Tiger chief who crossed over to the government is sanctioned for his sins during his time in government, not for what he did as a terrorist, which included the killing of 600 policemen! The man responsible for these sanctions is a hypocrite of the highest order who once savaged Trump but goes behind him like a poodle since Trump’s election as President.

The British government’s statement quotes the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy saying, “I made a commitment during the election campaign to ensure those responsible are not allowed impunity. This decision ensures that those responsible for past human rights violations and abuses are held accountable.”

Where did he make this commitment? Not in the Labour election manifesto but in a pocket meeting where he met the rump of the Tigers! Why did he do it? To get the Tamil vote in his Tottenham electorate! How did he come to the decision that they have committed human rights violations? Not on the basis of any investigations but on the words of a group representing a defeated terrorist group craving to exact revenge on the forces that were responsible for eradicating terrorism that plagued Sri Lanka for three decades! Disregarding the findings of British Defence Attache, Lt Colonel Gash and the British Peer, Lord Naseby he has acted as the judge, jury and executioner bringing to shame the boasted-about British sense of fair play!

The NPP government, though not unexpectedly, was muted in its response but, to his credit, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa has issued a very strong statement taking full responsibility as the head of the armed services and requesting not to unfairly penalise officers who carried out his orders.

Is it any surprise that Lammy behaves in this way? Absolutely not! Though at the beginning of his career David Lammy showed great promise, as a politician he has degenerated since. As reported in the Guardian newspaper, in March 2016, he was fined £5,000 for instigating 35,629 automatic phone calls urging people to back his London mayoral campaign without gaining permission to contact the party members concerned. Lammy apologised “unreservedly” for the breach of Electronic Communications regulations but it was the first time a politician had been fined for authorising nuisance calls!

Lammy categorised Trump a “racist and KKK & neo-Nazi sympathiser” in 2017 and, a year later, he wrote in Time magazine that he would be protesting against the then-government’s “capitulation to this tyrant in a toupee” referring to Trump’s first official visit to the UK, adding “Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath, he is also a profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress for so long.”

The following infamous tweet on ‘X’, and Lammy’s subsequent changed behaviour, remains a testimony to height of hypocrisy:

“Deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic, Donald Trump is no friend of Britain.” He is not fit to hold public office, let alone worthy of our country’s highest honours and a banquet with the Queen. Theresa May is selling out the UK to a serial liar and a cheat.”

In 2001, when Trump left office, his comment on X was “Good riddance Donald. The world is relieved to see the back of you.”

It will be interesting to see how Lammy bows down to Trump at the next state visit to the UK. By the way, Trump loves such characters! I am sure he will stoop to anything, going by what he stated when questioned about his changed attitude to Trump, following his victory: “What you say as a backbencher and what you do wearing the real duty of public office are two different things.” Really!

Heaven only knows why PM Starmer gave one of the Four Great Offices of states to a person like Lammy. With such politicians leading the nation, is it any surprise that Britain is going downhill?

 by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana