Should the UK become a neutral country?

[Mala591]

I think that the citizens of the UK should have a referendum asking 'Do you want the UK to become a neutral country?'.

I have had enough of 'our' politicians deciding to militarily intervene in the internal (and often highly religious) affairs of other sovereign states.

The horror occuring on the streets of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria is now on our own doorstep.

We didn't ask for this - 'Not in our name' - and our children should not have to live in our beautiful country with a nagging background fear of where the next terrorist attrocity will occur.

Tony Blair, you and your dodgy dossier have a lot to answer for.

[randomclaret2]

Much of what Britain now is we didn't ask for.

[Quickenthetempo]

I would love us to, but it would probably be financial suicide.

[Lancasterclaret]

I'm assuming that would mean pulling out of NATO then?

[claretdom]

Get ya snide toblerone 2 for £1

[Sidney1st]

It's too late for us to do that unfortunately.

[Quickenthetempo]

It's too late for us to do that unfortunately.

If we stopped meddling in the far east we wouldn't have any more terror attacks in my opinion.

[Falcon]

I'm not a big fan of Switzerland but the flag is a big plus

[starting_11]

We should become an atheist country and help remove this scourge of the last few thousand years off the face of the planet.

[Falcon]

We should become an atheist country and help remove this scourge of the last few thousand years off the face of the planet.

Rovers?

[dpinsussex]

I think that the citizens of the UK should have a referendum asking 'Do you want the UK to become a neutral country?'.

I have had enough of 'our' politicians deciding to militarily intervene in the internal (and often highly religious) affairs of other sovereign states.

The horror occuring on the streets of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria is now on our own doorstep.

We didn't ask for this - 'Not in our name' - and our children should not have to live in our beautiful country with a nagging background fear of where the next terrorist attrocity will occur.

Tony Blair, you and your dodgy dossier have a lot to answer for.

Is your name Jeremy ??

[dsr]

I think that the citizens of the UK should have a referendum asking 'Do you want the UK to become a neutral country?'.

I have had enough of 'our' politicians deciding to militarily intervene in the internal (and often highly religious) affairs of other sovereign states.

The horror occuring on the streets of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria is now on our own doorstep.

We didn't ask for this - 'Not in our name' - and our children should not have to live in our beautiful country with a nagging background fear of where the next terrorist attrocity will occur.

Tony Blair, you and your dodgy dossier have a lot to answer for.

Before and during World War Two, there were lots of neutral countries - Poland, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Holland, much of eastern Europe - but it didn't do them much good.

[Colburn_Claret]

No, neutrality suggests you don't care. It's like looking out your window, watching your neighbour getting mugged, and doing nothing to intervene.
I don't pretend we are always right in our opinions, but as a wise man once said 'all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to stand aside and do nothing'.
The idea that if you sit on the fence bad things pass you by, only lasts until someone can see that you're easy pickings. We need to protect our neighbours just as we need them to protect us.

[Sidney1st]

If we stopped meddling in the far east we wouldn't have any more terror attacks in my opinion.

It wouldn't erase hundreds of years though would it?

We carved it up after WW2, we dominated India for a very long time, we messed up the separation of India & Pakistan.

We could walk away now, but it would take a couple of generations of us leaving them alone for it to calm down.

[UTCAndrew123]

Yes we should become neutral

[nil_desperandum]

It wouldn't erase hundreds of years though would it?

We carved it up after WW2, we dominated India for a very long time, we messed up the separation of India & Pakistan.

We could walk away now, but it would take a couple of generations of us leaving them alone for it to calm down.

I think its the mess that we helped create after years of meddling in the Middle East that gives us the problems we have today.
The Balfour Declaration may have been well-intended and to be a pragmatic solution to the problems of Paletsine when we came up with it. but retrospectively one can see that in practice it was always going to cause massive issues and instability.

[KRBFC]

We didn't ask for this? Hahahhahaha we went to war with the Muslims for absolutely no reason at all.

[Pstotto]

There is bound to be cultural convergence on the basis that the same software will be used to make the same cultural product, not dissimilar from every football team in the UK having Dafabet on their shirt. It will be the neo-nazis sponsored by Heineken as well as the jihadis. The software is the key.

[Sidney1st]

We didn't ask for this? Hahahhahaha we went to war with the Muslims for absolutely no reason at all.

Which war are you referring too?
This has been happening on and off for over a thousand years.

[nil_desperandum]

Which war are you referring too?
This has been happening on and off for over a thousand years.

I think he mean't the Crusades, but I'm sure he'll put us both right.

[Lancasterclaret]

Personally, I've never forgiven them for the Fall of Constantinople in 1453

[Bin Ont Turf]

Personally, I've never forgiven them for the Fall of Constantinople in 1453

That history degree really comes in handy.

[Hipper]

If we had been a neutral country when talking about recent events in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, I don't think those wars would have been prevented.

Whether the terrorism in this country would have been prevented (which seems to be the OP's concern) is debateable too. Sweden for example did not fight in any of those countries yet has had terrorist attacks (edit - actually it had some involvement in Libya which was considered a humanitarian operation, and it has some troops in Afghanistan. what do I know!).

Being a member of NATO, being on the UN Security Council, having a strong military (including nuclear weapons), and being active diplomatically in all corners of the world, helps the residents in our trading nation to live a pretty good lifestyle.

[Lancasterclaret]

Ha!

Not my period at all, but big fan since Medieval:Total War!

[Sidney1st]

Ha!

Not my period at all, but big fan since Medieval:Total War!

Best one of the lot, but Rome was a very close 2nd

[Lancasterclaret]

Especially with the Mods.

Bit gutted that most of them don't work anymore or have stopped being supported.

But Invasario Barbaroum still does for Rome, but sadly Bryg and Stainless steel don't for MTW II