Quote Originally Posted by jamieXXXmaria View Post

Countries such as Japan, China and India have progressed over the years, while good old Blighty has stalled at the lights still foolishly clinging to the idea that the country is still great because it has a Royal Family.
Sorry Jamie but that's a bit......ummm.......I'll be polite - it's wrong

The country being held back has absolutely nothing to do with monarchs. India, China and Japan have made leaps forward because of other things. Firstly Japans leap forward came not long after defeat in war. There is also the national psyche and work ethos. They are "now there", just as Britain was "there" in King Edward VII's time (another monarch who actually stopped wars and managed to hold European peace until his end).
Japan had a monarch during their time of growth - he was frankly lucky not to have been hung mind.

China, there is also the national psyche. It is noted how wherever Chinese go, they work hard and build businesses. Add to that a very strict controlling government, and cheap labour.....

India.....cheap labour, huge labour force, good education if you can afford it, countries outsourcing there, ability to undercut......

You just can't compare these countries to the UK. All of them wanting to work hard and improve - and in the UK at the same time, back in the 70's we had Red Robbo calling out on strike because they'd run out of bogroll or something. It's a good thing, but we have laws against cheap labour here. Combination of strikes, production costs and quality meaning British industry was uncompetitive, then a certain someone selling off the state industries in the 80's

I tend to be optimistic, but the way this country is going economically, along with a proportion of the population who think the world owes them a living and wouldn't know work if it kicked them up their trackie-bottomed backside, you have to wonder where the country is going.

This might sound barking, but I have read this quite recently (I'll try find where, I tend to read many economic sites) - on this forum, being one full of people with Pinoy partners, we are aware of their lazy government and dire economic circumstances making a huge percentage of their young population go abroad for work and working in menial places well below their education.
Well I read a forecast suggesting in 30 maybe years, this is what will be happening in the UK. Our young people going off to South America, hopefully though not the middle east still, and working as maids for them!

Makes you think