This article by Martin Kettle in The Guardian (HERE) says something profound about this country. The idea that we can somehow recapture the old glory as a global power is a delusion, a self deceit, which as Kettle rightly points out, is perhaps the only thing we really excel at.
Whereas foreign powers once had a sort of respect for Britain, now they humour us and once out of earshot laugh among themselves (HERE) at what we have become.
The article exposes the myth that we can somehow become Global Britain. China is spending £350 billion in Africa as one example. Macron, French president for eight months has made six visits to Africa. No British PM has been there for five years. We might think old colonial ties mean something but money is far more important and carries much more influence with it. Germany spends three times what we do on foreign embassies. Merkel has visited China nine times and Germany exports five times the amount we do to the Chinese.
We will do the usual British thing and try to become a global trader on the cheap - and fail.
The fact is money counts and we don't have enough. Brexit is only going to make it worse.
When I was working in the packaging industry you would often find a German company had been working away quietly behind the scenes for years, developing products in a careful, logical, step-by-step fashion, that were far better than your own - and sometimes even cheaper! You can see how Germany is doing this now diplomatically and improving relations with emerging nations, showing themselves to be a serious, trustworthy, reliable partner for the long term.
May, Fox and others going on high profile visits looks good on the front pages of newspapers but when the entourage has departed the Germans, French, Italians and the Dutch will still be there and putting in the hard work to help their traders. We will be waiting for the orders that never come.
