The Maritime Spirit

Anyone wanting to understand the essence of Britain must understand the sea. It was because of this relationship with the sea that Britain organized the biggest maritime empire the world has ever seen. While accepting that mistakes were made, sometimes dreadful mistakes, the empire was also a force for development of many parts of the world. It was very much in the process of transition to a more equal and reciprocal relationship, the Commonwealth, when Britain found itself in the position after WWII whereby other world powers had the leverage to force an abandonment of the project. A process of lack of confidence and decline followed.

In 1950 we had a two power standard navy that was almost the size of the respective Russian and U.S. navy, through neglect and political indifference the navy was slowly reduced in size. As part of our foreign policy and future needs we need to expand the navy to two thirds of the size of the U.S. surface fleet which in practical terms will require the creation of seven air craft carriers and no less than fifty frigates and ancillary battle cruisers. This program alone would require full capacity utilisation of the Steel Corporation and offer full employment in the ship yards to one million persons throughout Great Britain. If we are to project a global presence, our navy should be at the forefront.

British industry will need access to these raw materials and a secure home market for manufactured goods. In return the long-abandoned countries of Commonwealth Africa will no longer be dependent on the vaguaries of international trade that has served them so poorly since independence. Accordingly, instead of involving ourselves in costly wars in the middle east we should only intervene in local wars where the interests of a corporate Commonwealth are relevant. The plan must be to transform the Commonwealth from an ad hoc social club into a force for international good, offering security through defence, trade and a true self sufficient and insulated market. Under this new view of Africa none shall starve and war and pestilence will be a thing of the past.