I cycled through Japan from Nagano to Okinawa a few years ago (obviously taking some ferries along the way). Amongst many other delights, I have never known anywhere where I have been treated more ki… (View Post)

Again, you put the point well, and in some ways history is on your side. Democracies are really quite rare, and perhaps it was only because the UK happened to be really quite wealthy just at the time… (View Post)

I agree. But you also need to step back and consider why democracy spawned in UK, France and elsewhere. It's not easy to answer but in general I'd argue against British or European exceptio… (View Post)

I know you're only trolling but LP had it right - the right doesn't despise Britain for the most part, they just have a fundamental lack of confidence about the UK because their view of it … (View Post)

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with your claim that democracy wouldn't have developed globally without empire, that is one of the better defences of the project that I have seen. Chapeau. (View Post)