Ten people who screwed up my country

I’m feeling in need of a good rant so here is my list of ten people (plus) who I believe have screwed up Great Britian.

William the Conqueror. For stealing English lands and concentrating it into the hands of his robber barons who ruled the country as an alien elite. (And arguably, still do today.)

Richard Cromwell, son of the more famous Oliver, for making a mess of his time as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and thereby allowing the Restoration of the monarchy to England.

William Pitt the Younger for fighting against Republican France and allying himself with countries dominated by tyrant Kings.

Lord Liverpool, the reactionary Prime Minister who did his best to make Britain a country fit only for the aristocrats and the wealthy.

Arthur Balfour for thinking that the Conservative Party had the right to reverse the will of the people by organising the House of Lords to obstruct the measures of the radical Liberal Party who had been overwhelmingly elected to office.

Stanley Baldwin for allowing the country to suffer more than it should have done in the Depression of the Thirties, refusing to re-arm adequately and presiding over a government which appeased Hitler.

Jim Callaghan for being an incompetent Chancellor of the Exchequer and even worse Prime Minister. As an indecisive, inadequate leader he dithered his way into defeat by my next villain.

Margaret Thatcher. For being a small-minded hysteric who set out to destroy the working class and, in the process, destroyed much of the industrial power of this country. She also encouraged the belief that Britain was still a powerful nation with the right to interfere in other nation’s business, encouraged the flow of money from the poor to the rich and soiled and derided the notion of society.

Arthur Scargill. For his hubris in thinking he had the right and the power to defeat Margaret Thatcher, an act which led to the destruction of the mining industry and its communities and a legacy of distrust for collective action.

The bankers. I don’t know all their names and don’t care to research this. They have ruined the economy which they are supposed to be the custodians of yet still get their fat bonuses while ordinary people are losing their jobs and their homes.

Phew, I enjoyed this. If you’d like to comment on who you believed screwed up your country please add a comment.