The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

Britain to press Libya to compensate IRA victims | Top News | Reuters.

I find the Al-Megrahi farce interesting, but I share few of the sentiments being expressed.  For once, I sympathise with the British government, at least in some respects. I am reluctant to join in the gleeful trouncing of Gordon Brown by his opponents because I doubt they would do so much better in his place.

Of course, I don't condone the Prime Minister's inept handling of the matter. I certainly don't condone his lying. However, I am impressed that a Labour government was even inclined to put the nation's economic interests above the sentimental arrogance which usually passes for leftist thought on foreign affairs.

In Gordon Brown's place, I would tell the families that – while I wish them well – their claims for compensation are entirely a matter for them. Most of us think, of course, that the Libyan government was somehow implicated. Legal proof, however, is a different matter. Paying compensation would amount to a confession and a moment's thought will confirm that there is no way the Libyan government will do it.

Diplomacy works, like all forms of negotiation, when each side has something to offer or withhold (or presents a plausible threat). It is very obvious what Britain needs from Libya. It is far less clear what Britain has to offer.

Brown is now at the rock/hard place interface. If he had a good case for compensation, he would be even more reviled for the release of the convicted terrorist. With a poor case, he will get nowhere and then look weak for having "failed." If he bribes Gaddafi, he will be reviled (not least by me) for his corruption. He is certainly in no position to issue threats. I don't argue that Brown and his team have any great talent in these matters, but it's hard to see what even a sane, able Prime Minister and a credible, competent Foreign Secretary could do.

Yet British citizens seem to expect gunboats and redcoats to bring other nations to heel, as if Palmerston were still in charge. That's just stupid. For generations now we have been one (rich and fortunate) nation among many. There's something very wrong about the press and the public's continued failure to understand that. I have no shame about our imperial past. Judged by the standards of the time we did well and ex-colonies generally have reason to be glad they had us and not, say, Belgium. However, unlike the guilt-brokers of the Left and the nostalgics of the Right, I have no difficulty in grasping (and in being happy) that it's over.

It seems that Britain has lost an empire, but has still not found humility. Our armed forces are pitifully stretched. They are largely (despite their undoubted spirit) ineffectual in their current deployments. That's because our public expects them to be be deployed beyond the nation's effective reach. Our diplomats are mere beggars if they have no bargaining chips (positive or negative) to deploy. Sending them out as mendicants (particularly after ensuring – as Labour has – that they have no support from the US) further undermines their dwindling credibility.

I have little sympathy for a government which has encouraged us to believe it is the answer to all our problems. Of course the families of these victims expect the Prime Minister to fix things for them. Doesn't he claim, to the amusement of the big boys, to have saved the world's financial system? His lies, his vanity and his self-delusion are coming back to haunt him. The fact remains it's well past time for the British people to grow up. Lecturing other nations and making "demands" that can cheerfully be ignored just makes them laugh at us. International influence is a valuable resource. It should be carefully cultivated and husbanded, not squandered in idiotic sentimentality.