The starvation empire

History forgotten is a betrayal.

The relationship between famine and the British Empire appears to be more than coincidental.

Indeed, it could be argued that it was a highly developed policy of colonial control.

Certainly when the British flag flew over the Indian sub-continent millions starved while there were adequate local food supplies.

The last one was the Bengal Famine of 1943 just a few years before the Brits packed their colonial bags.

Recently declassified papers show the genocidal contempt that Churchill had for the starvelings of Bengal.

Lest we forget…

Therefore, my thoughts were taken to those shameful events this morning when I read of the comments of British politician Priti Patel.

Ms Patel’s parents were originally from Gujarat which was the scene of another British manufactured famine in 1899-1900.

Like at the time of An Gorta Mór this island has bountiful supplies of food and we also have our gallant allies in Europe.

When the Phase One section of the Brexit talks were stuck in December of last year Brussels needed Dublin to sign off on the talks.

For the first time in centuries, a polity on this island held sway over the British state and it did not take long for the old anti-Irish sentiments to emerge at Westminster.

It reminded me of the signs that my father frequently saw in the Britain of the 1950s.

 

In the Britain of my youth  TV light entertainment was littered with chaps who did a roaring trade in “thick Paddy” material.

The narrative was that the denizens of this island were congenital imbeciles to be mocked and pilloried.

This is what racists usually find out about their victims.

Of course, the reality could not be further from the truth.

The generation of Irish people who perfected a new form of warfare and took on a global superpower was not stupid.

Moreover, they had been born in the late 19th century amid the folk memory of the Irish holocaust.

Shamefully, the British state is still using hunger as a tool of social policy in 2018.

I cannot think of any other explanation for the crime that is Universal Credit.

Children will go hungry this Christmas in the fifth largest economy in the world simply because of decisions that were taken by well-fed privately educated ideologues who hate the poor.

Looking over the hedge from here in Donegal it is clear to me that the British political class are in a chaotic muddle over Brexit.

Last year I used the term “slow-moving Suez crisis” to describe the entire shambles.

I will stick with that.

Ireland starved during Black 47 because we had no control over our own destiny.

That was also the case in the land where Ms Patel’s parents hail from.

I doubt that very few people in India today would want to be ruled by the British again.

History remembered is a weapon.

 

19 thoughts on “The starvation empire”

  1. The EU is a Neoliberal Capitalists wet dream.
    Hence why Thatcher was all for it.
    Foodbanks ,Zero hour contracts,Bosnia,Nuclear Rearmament(times 2 soon to be 3),Sell off of Nationalised Industry to Foreign Companies,Tax Evasion by Multi National Companies,The Banking Crisis and the last recession created by it all happened within membership of the EU and Common Market.
    We joined a Common Market not a European Superstate setup and controlled by Central Bank so the 1% can avoid paying their way in every Country they now skim and plunder.
    All controlled of course by an untouchable an unelected Commision.
    The most ironic thing in all of this of course is the fact Germany the Country that caused the issues and created the need for a Common Market is now one of the main players in the decision making process and who conveniently has Central Bank based in Frankfurt.
    Have people forgotten how Greece was treated in their time of need by the EU or how this wonderful LaLa land created by Capitalist Pigs is treating the UK now that a DEMOCRATIC CHOICE was taken so we could look after our own affairs?
    You might not agree with the fact we made that choice as Nation but the fact remains it was a Democratic decision.
    Now it seems we are to be punished for making that Democratic decision.
    I should think that the many who gave so much represented by the white crosses on European soil will be turning in their war graves at the response by our “allies” and “friends” in Europe?
    Note to self Europe: Next time the excrement hits the proverbial don’t come running to us for military support.

    Reply
  2. Famine was one of the tools used by the British all over the world including Ireland as a method of ethnic cleansing of populations and indigenous peoples opposed to British Rule…………..the tragedy being that it was also practised within the British Island’s in a country under the rule of a British Government and Monarch Queen Victoria

    Reply
  3. The British Empire spread it’s wings throughout the world.
    Guns v spears and bow and arrows meant resistance was useless.
    It’s not a coincidence that wherever the Union Jack was planted we are still seeing the catastrophe that was created by the British.
    Ireland, Palestine/Israel, Middle East in general, The Falklands….the list is endless.
    When the locals were finally armed up the Brits were chased out .
    I’m sure many of those who voted to leave the EU are influenced by a British Empire that no longer exists, yet Rule Britannia is still in their mindset.
    In Scotland we have many people who cling to the notion of Queen and country yet this is not reflected in the vote for the Conservatives, the only Unionist party. Not sure how that works.
    The thought of an independent Scotland sticks in their craws. Something to do with losing their culture I believe.
    But for project fear Scotland would have gone for independence in the referendum.
    We now have people who fought the better together case in the referendum telling us that leaving the EU will be beneficial to the UK which flies in the face of almost all of the research, including a stern warning from the Governor of the Bank Of England.
    But what does he know, he’s Canadian and just can’t be trusted!

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  4. I barely know where to begin. Living in mid Essex I have lots of friends who have Priti Patel as their MP. Above all else her reputation is for being one of the dullest knives in the tory cutlery draw. Just relentlessly stupid.

    Sat in the pub last night with my best friend going back all the way to school. “Guess what Priti Vacant said today about Brexit and Ireland?” He guessed it in one, she’s that predictable in her mix of insanity and knavishness.

    The whole Brexit debacle is in large part driven by a failure to learn from history or worse to learn the wrong lessons. The myth of Empire lingers and casts a debilitating shadow of the English psyche. The referendum vote showed just how many people here buy into this nonsense.

    As a progressive, outward looking Englishman, I have always viewed the EU as somewhat flawed but ultimately a great civilising force and hopefully a beacon for the peaceful integration of nations. The abuse that gets handed out to me and like minded people is grim. Remoaner, traitor, enemy of the people etc.

    Racists and bigots have been emboldened. You can routinely hear the non-English described in ways that five years ago I hoped/believed had gone away forever.

    I am genuinely in despair at the way my country is behaving. Sorry for rambling on, it really is just awful here at the moment.

    Reply
    • EU-civilizing influence?
      There is only one vaguely left wing government in the EU-in Portugal.
      In all the other countries the extreme right is in the ascendant, and they are in power in Poland, Hungary and Italy.
      In all the other countries, except the UK, the main opposition comes from neo-fascists.

      Depends what you mean by civilizing.

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    • Aye. Too many have the, “They need us more than we need them!” attitude. You have to wonder what sort of flawed, twisted logic this is based on.

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  5. It is interesting ( I think ) that there are derogatory names for the Jocks , the Taffies , the Paddies – and further afield , the wogs , the dagos etc ….. but none that I know of for the English .
    Who originated all theses other ‘nicknames’ for peoples of various races , countries , creeds …which are used , almost always , to denigrate ?

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  6. For that to be even considered shows their complete antipathy for the working class.
    They’re beneath contempt;abhorrent even.
    Thanks Phil.🍀

    Reply

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