1939–1945
UK has a pivotal role liberating continental Europe from self-inflicted tyranny, ending decades of fascism, even offering a safe haven to the exiled free French leader Charles de Gaulle.
1949
UK has a pivotal role in resupplying starving German residents during the Berlin airlift - the largest humanitarian operation of all time. France et al. do not offer any meaningful support to the desperate trapped Berliners.
1950–1960
Britain’s RAF Bomber Command Main Force provided round-the-clock nuclear deterrent to prevent the Soviet Block from attacking continental Europe.
1952
European Coal and Steel Community administrative agency was established by the self-styled "inner six": France, Italy, the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) together with West Germany.
1957
France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg sign a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market.
1959
UK shares its nuclear weapons secrets with France greatly accelerating their quest to become the word’s fourth nuclear power and greatly increasing French prestige.
1963
Charles de Gaulle (remember him), vetoed Britain's application to join the EEC. This was despite the UK offering him a safe haven during WWII, helping to liberate continental Europe from self-inflicted tyranny, ending decades of fascism, saving millions of Germans during the Berlin Airlift, deterring the Soviet Block invading Eastern Europe and gifting the French nuclear weapons secrets.
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1973
UK finally allowed entry into the EEC on terms so one-sided that UK instantly becomes the ‘sick man of Europe’ falls into the longest recession in peacetime. For much of the intervening years the UK’s industry was hollowed-out, trade with the Commonwealth fell off a cliff.
1976
UK needed an IMF bailout 3 years after joining the EEC. UK balance of payments with the EEC/EU started deteriorating, while its budget contributions began increasing markedly.
1990–2016
The rest is merely a manifestation of selfish, ungrateful, Franco-Germanic behaviour culminating in the UK’s departure from the EU in 2020. At its peak the UK was the second biggest net budget contributor and the member with the largest absolute trade deficit with the EU while still not being deigned proportional influence.
2016
Finally, the UK electorate were offered a chance to Leave the dystopian continental European political experiment - the UK historically voted to Leave the EU with the largest democratic mandate in our country’s history.
2021
Unshackled from the dead weight of Brussels the UK’s economy overtakes France, outgrows the EU, the historic budget deficit decreases, UK leads the G7 for growth, two of the largest EU companies move their HQ to the UK and the UK leads the world on Covid vaccinations.
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2022
The story goes full circle. Once again, Britain (now a newly-sovereign nation), in an echo of 1940s, is selflessly doing more to liberate Europe from the horrors of war and fascist aggression than all of the EEC’s original “inner six” combined.
et voila!
