Recently I posted 2 articles namely “UK is in a mess” and “Tax cut is a wrong strategy”. Today the British pound hit an all-time low against the U.S. dollar amid market concerns about the new government’s plans to boost growth after it unveiled its biggest shake-up to the tax system in 50 years.

The British Empire was the largest of its kind in history, and once covered about one quarter of all the land on Earth.

One of the last major colonies to be given up by Britain was Hong Kong which was given back to China on July 1st 1997.

Britain began colonizing the world back in the 16th century and spread its power through a strong army and by partnering with local authorities to conduct business.

I am a Malaysian. I was living in Kuala Lumpur before the 2nd world war. The British had many opium sale outlets because many people smoked opium. The British produced opium from India. Before the 2nd world war, Malaya was the largest rubber producer in the world and yet we had to buy Dunlop tires made in India. 

Former colonies of the British Empire. The year of Independence is shown.

Current British Territories Overseas

1 Anguilla

2 Bermuda

3 British Antarctic Territory

4 British Indian Ocean Territory

5 British Virgin Islands

6 Cayman Islands

7 Falkland Islands

8 Gibraltar

9 Montserrat

10 Pitcairn Islands

11 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

12 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Island13 Turks and Caicos Islands.

I do not think the British Empire will ever return to its former glory. Just look at its 2% average annual GDP growth rate in the last 70 years above.