Independence: Stop Being Silly That?s Patronising!
NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE
If your own country is an Independent State that?s fine but if you live in a colony and aspire to independence it might be ?patronising; to grant your wishes. Welcome to the twisted world of Sir Richard Gozney!
The new Lt Governor appointed to the Isle of Man, to take Office from April, certainly projects all the arrogance of the British ?nanny state?.
He should find good company amongst the ?pretend Ministers? of the Isle of Man ?pretend government? plus the remnants (sadly a few of them Manx) of empire loyalists here.
In the interview (with video) below Sir Richard sets out why in his view it would be ?patronising? for a country like Bermuda to become independent. It?s a curious choice of word. In the interview:
?Asked why Britain does not simply tell Bermuda that it is old enough to take the sovereignty option, he said: ?Because that would be patronising.
?We won?t patronise Bermuda. We?ll say ?Bermuda, you?re grown up. You take that decision?. All we?ll ask is if you decide to go independent, we?ll need an unambiguous signal that that is the case.?
Video and interview link here:
Notice the qualification in the final sentence! This in a territory where the last time there was an unequivocal signal from the populace about independence British troops had to be flown in to contain several days of rioting.
Bermuda is recognised as a colony by the UN Committee on decolonisation and it is Britain?s duty to advance the territory towards independence so what Sir Richard is advocating is at odds with the UN view.
Of course there are many amongst the privileged class in Bermuda who quite like the status quo because they are doing very nicely. The Bermuda Progressive Labour Party which has recently called for reform of corruption law has coined a nice term ?cookie jar politics? sounds like something that might be applicable here as well. The BPLP says;
Politicians that reach into the people?s ?cookie jar? not only are an affront to good governance, honesty and integrity but also contribute to government waste, loss of investor confidence and global reputational
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