Inspite of all the gold
and the diamond, which Britishers took from their imperial colonies, Britain,
is in the category of a long-standing debtor. A spokesman of the Treasury in
the British parliament reluctantly admitted this. You see, in 1945 when the
World War II ended, U.S.A. loaned £ 3 billion to Britain for tiding over
reconstruction problems. The debt was to be repaid over the next 50 years. But
Britain has defaulted on the repayment, and more than £1 billion remain
outstanding in Uncle Sam’s books as on date. The admission of this in the
British parliament led to sniggers from the opposition members, the joke being
that since Bush and Blair are such great friends, one would think that the
President could let his old pal off such a measly sum, if not for anything
else, for the active support of Britain to Bush in the latter’s Iraq adventure.
© smsingru August 2002