Disbanding UK will be ultimate apology to exploited nations of Empire

Sir, – It was with total dismay and some confusion that I read about the transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda but then I realised it was just a modern equivalent of a wellestablished approach.

England started colonising other countries in 1607, well before the voluntary union with Scotland. In 1654, Cromwell sent Scots and Irish prisoners from the Civil War to work as slaves in the plantations of Barbados and elsewhere.

They couldn’t survive the climate but free labour was so enjoyed by the plantation owners they started the African slavery trade.

After the union, the British Empire went into overdrive on the movement of undesirables with the deportation to Australia of people for petty crimes.

How can we forget the Highland Clearances, possibly inspired by the new influx of English influence on Scottish society, and ultimately the use of “camps” to “concentrate’” the Boer population so they couldn’t assist their army.

Obviously the concept of concentration camps was taken to hideous extremes by both Hitler and Stalin in subsequent years.

Empire and slavery have rightly been under a lot of scrutiny recently.

King Philippe of Belgium visited the Congo in June but while he “regretted” the past he didn’t actually apologise.

Germany both apologised for its genocide and paid reparations to Namibia.

France ruled out, in 2021, any possibility of an apology for the colonial abuses in Algeria.

And Britain sent some royals to the Caribbean but the Duke of Cambridge only expressed “profound sorrow” over the “abhorrent” trade.

With the Commonwealth Games now finished, and well done to all competitors, it seems relevant to consider this matter again.

It feels to me the Commonwealth could more accurately be labelled as the Association of Countries whose indigenous populations were subjugated and whose resources were exploited by the British Empire.

I would go further and say the Commonwealth only exists now for the residual imperial vanity of the British establishment.

As such, would the ultimate apology to all of these countries not be the disbanding of this culprit Great Britain into its four constituent nations?

Given they compete as four different countries in these very same Commonwealth Games it hardly seems like a massive leap.

Many Commonwealth countries have or are moving to remove the Union flag from their own flag.

Others are no longer recognising the Queen in any capacity. As independent countries why should they?

Some might argue that as a quid pro quo, then automatic right of entry/ citizenship of the UK comes to an end.

The Commonwealth could still exist but as an association of countries who were once linked historically.

And, yes, there are family ties with these countries but citizens of the UK have ties with America, Europe and China and various other countries too, so don’t let us view this through rose-tinted specs.

As a final thought, people who travel on their own initiative to escape appalling conditions and in the process endure hardships beyond thinking about, seem like wellmotivated prospective citizens of any country.

Rab Mungall.

Lady Campbells Court, Dunfermline.