Jeremy Clarkson thinks Barbados is going to regret becoming a Republic – he’s wrong

In exercising our free choice, we wish no one any harm. I wish people would realise that

‘There should be a greater awareness in Europe as to just how difficult it is to build a nation’ (Rex)

So, Jeremy Clarkson thinks Barbados is going to “regret becoming a republic”? Clarkson is of course entitled to that view – which he expressed in a recent column for The Times – but while some may have expected the debate to be around the relationship between the Caribbean island and the Queen, what followed seemed to me to be the worst case of attempted national assassination (by way of scaremongering) imaginable. Or was it just a simple dose of insecure sour grapes?

Barbados is going to be the Taiwan that China never had, he says. Soon, China will exercise dominion over the land and our beaches will no longer be public. Sandy Lane (a luxury tourist resort) will be torn down. And all because Clarkson says so.

Rather than a debate about the island’s colonial history and its links to Britain’s slave trade, or the rising influence of China – hardly a novel issue – Clarkson instead cried that the Chinese wolf is going to swallow an entire island whole. Mention was made, in passing, of the experience of Hong Kong; but there weren’t any suggestions as to how micro-states could be expected to resist China.

The really hard questions still remain, regardless of whether readers are distracted from the issues. How, for example, may poor, post-colonial countries be assisted, given that much of the wealth and infrastructure which is presently enjoyed in Europe was extracted from former colonies? Have they started on a level playing field – and if not, what is the reason for that?

Is it in Europe’s interest to allow them to fail and/or fall into the hands of China, whether by reason of default or neglect? Indeed, the concept of the leveraged debt trap – a term referring to the practice of poorer countries taking out loan after loan to build expensive infrastructure that they can’t afford – was not invented, nor perfected, by China. Look north and west for that.

The great question of our age regarding China cannot be divorced from the yawning gap left by former colonial powers for China to enter. European powers cannot so easily escape their historical moral and economic duties and obligations to former colonies, even if Clarkson were brave enough to come out and say so. Moreover, these duties are owed to republics and constitutional monarchies alike, thus rendering any perceived distinction moot. Perhaps this will relax himand render him more “sanguine”.

There should be a greater awareness in Europe as to just how difficult it is to build a nation whilst starting behind the proverbial “eight ball” of 350 years of extractive colonisation. I wish people would realise that.

Even if one gets off one’s feet, complex rules render it difficult for countries like Barbados, who have done relatively well on the development indices, to access aid if one is deemed “too successful”. Thus, they are caught in a developmental lacuna.

A further plague is the deliberate attempt on the part of the EU to exclude certain “hard currency” dependent, small states from the international financial community by imposing anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance standards far more stringent than is applied to EU members (or the UK), while leaving China completely to its own devices. It is simply too big a trading partner. Control over correspondent banking relationships is the financial chokehold of choice in the 21st century.

Were Clarkson to ask whether it was a good idea for Barbados to secede further whilst still expecting support from the UK, some ears may have pricked. Instead, he let that ball pass through to the keeper. Maybe he did so just because, as he says, he hates cricket?

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Bajans would have hoped beyond hope that Clarkson may have been more gracious in what amounts to no more than a ceremonial parting. For in exercising our free choice, we wish no one any harm. We are too small, really. And after all, our avowed policy is that we are friends of all, but satellites of none.

Barbados remains a strong parliamentary democracy with a proven, fundamental commitment to freedom and respect for human rights. In addition, it remains steadfast to our reputation for hospitality to visitors and to foreign investors alike. These are not principles which will be abandoned, at any cost.

We remain sincerely grateful for any opportunity to show that this is, and ever will be the case. And you are welcome back any time, Clarkson.