Empire was not rosy and justice will prevail

Sir, – Derek Farmer’s piece in The Courier Letters on June 18, which used the story of the three little pigs to denigrate another contributor’s point of view and justify his own claims of UK colonial justice, reminded me of a well-known white bovine product, a staple ingredient of a dish eaten by Dundee’s disadvantaged families, which my granny used to prepare.

Britain’s actual record of colonial government was nothing like the rosy picture presented by Mr Farmer .

The crown in a large British Empire was India, where the privileged rulers running its caste system made it easy for the products of our own privileged class system to work together for mutual benefit.

The Colonial masters and their Rajah pals both prospered at the expense of India’s poor and vastly underprivileged native population.

The rest of the Empire, and in particular Africa, was kept in check by abject cruelty and force.

When greedy Britain could no longer control its overstretched empire, it found a way out by forming a Commonwealth of Nations, and secured widespread acceptance of a way to avoid trouble for itself by including trading arrangements as part of the new deal.

Mr Farmer’s take down of a fellow contributor ’s viewpoint by linking it to the prospects or otherwise of Scottish independence is typical of someone who either doesn’t know or chooses to disregard the fact that any nation which aspires to run an independent economy requires the full fiscal powers that go along with it.

In layman’s terms it means being able to run your own financial affairs without interference or control from another nation, including access to international banking facilities.

Currently the Scottish budget is set and controlled by Westminster to ensure that not only will Scotland be seen to mismanage its economic affairs, but also provide a cash cow to offset some of the losses incurred by Westminster’s mismanagement of the UK economy as a whole.

There is an old saying that “justice will prevail” and the UK prime minister will be on his knees right now, giving thanks to some unknown deity for the timely distraction of a pandemic to ensure him, and those of the Derek Farmer ilk, that that day may still be some time off.

Allan A. MacDougall. 37 Forth Park, Bridge of Allan.