The UK must stop squandering opportunities (Image: Getty)
When England emerged as the most dynamic and fastest-growing economy in the world our then Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, declared that we have no permanent enemies and no forever friends, only interests for the time being which we should pursue. What followed was Pax Britannica, a world order based on the power of Britain’s navy and the financial clout of the City of London. It saw a period of unparalleled social improvement and liberty at home and good will abroad, exemplified by Britain’s single-handed enforcement of the prohibition of slavery. All of this was a consequence of burgeoning wealth stemming from a growing economy. Economic growth is the beginning and the end, the key to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, by the same token, anything that detracts from economic growth is the enemy of prosperity and wellbeing.
It was in the period of Palmerston and immediately before that saw great scientific and technical development. But later generations failed the UK with overseas entanglements such as the League of Nations and a failure of realism as the increasingly left-liberal elite began to “smoke their own dope” and forgot that the privileged position of our sceptred isle depending upon the “dark satanic mills”. The words of Palmerston were forgotten. Managed decline was born of the imperial overreach of the first part of the twentieth century and has persisted until today.
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In the salad days of Pax Britannica, Britain was on a par with the USA, in fact a major investor in North America, dominated trade with India and China and our major rivals were in Europe. Now we are pigmy by comparison with America, Europe is in steep decline and China and India have re-emerged.
We have a major opportunity to follow suit. Post-Brexit Britain is positioned to be a re-emerging nation and we should think of ourselves in the mode of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, a buccaneering Britain still at the forefront of technical development: AI, life sciences, defence, nuclear.
Still with natural resources and extraction industries: fracked gas and coal on land, oil and gas at sea and in overseas territories such as the Falklands. We’re also a services superpower and are ably trading and financing other people’s goods and services as we have done for centuries.
Palmerston’s wise words are just as apposite today as they ever were, especially in this renewed era of global realism, a return to the doctrine of the ages, of “might is right”.
Power politics and a wake-up call that shows there is no such thing as international law, only agreements for the time being between sovereign states, look set to be the rule for the foreseeable future. The only question is whether our elites, in particular the political classes and the media, are able to adapt to this old reality.
Brexit Britain should seek to trade the world, with anyone who benefits Britain. Decidedly capitalist as a re-emerging nation we must be. We should embrace free markets, free trade and take the opportunities of Brexit.
We ust acknowledge the realities that nations compete and borders matter. The need for strong defence of our interests is long overdue. Even Adam Smith resolved that freedom should be robustly defended and that this is a matter for the state.
While we should seek good relations with all nations there must be a recognition that not all nations are playing the same game. Some regimes that are decidedly statist, whether we call them communist or national socialist, in the way they organise themselves, their economies and political positioning.
Good trade relations with China are laudable but as the Independent Business Network report on China dependency showed over-reliance by sectors on China leads to excessive vulnerability and a threat to the defence of our freedoms.
Our recent trade arrangements with India are to be welcomed and are the seed corn of further developments as are all our new Brexit-driven trade deals, but it cannot mean an open door to migration that does not serve our national interests.
We should aim to attract the talented and the wealthy. We should be mindful to try to retain the talented and the wealthy who have resolved to leave. Gross migration is far more important than net as a measure of the nation’s prospects.
The trans-Pacific deal opened even more trade potential and the possibility that others may join this network.
Most of all Britain should not fear being alone. Standing strong and alone is not isolation, it is a position of strength. An opportunity to choose with whom we trade and on what terms.
It gives us the ability to make alliances according to the circumstances of the moment and to avoid entanglements which threaten our wealth and freedom to act in our own interests. It is to be grown-up rather than acting as a child.
It does require economic strength derived from wealth-creation. It means investing in our Armed Forces so that we are armed to the teeth and non-aligned, with a network of arrangements including paying the cost for a truly independent nuclear deterrent, separate from that of the USA. The necessary actions to achieve these things will lead to greater prosperity and are thus part of a virtuous cycle.
Given a government with a clear vision and determination a post-Brexit Britain can be a truly re-emerging nation every sense.
John Longworth is an entrepreneur, businessman, Chairman of the Independent Business Network and a former MEP
