Once I thought Great Britain might be an interesting place to visit, but no more. I like places that are English-speaking.

It’s interesting that as we ponder our national fate as we approach our 250th birthday, the nation of Great Britain is itself approaching a crossroads. Once it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire, but we’re afraid to say it’s sinking close to the horizon now.

Consider the British Navy, once one of the finest in the world but now “a shadow of what it once was, with only 15 surface combatants, most of which are in dry dock,” according to Hot Air’s David Strom. “It currently has no deployable destroyers, although they are rushing to get one that has been in dry dock for nearly a decade back to sea.”

As Noah Rothman then explains at National Review, “The Royal Navy’s HMS Dragon would lead the way, but it would do so alone. Britain’s five other Type 45 Destroyers were not fit for deployment. The Dragon set sail on March 10 and finally arrived at its destination, a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus that had been targeted by Iran, 17 days later. But within days, the Dragon succumbed to a ‘technical’ issue and had to retreat to port for repairs. This attempt at a demonstrative display of force — the sort of mission that used to be standard fare for the once mighty British Navy — had the opposite of its intended effect. The Dragon’s misadventure serves as a metaphor not just for the decline of British naval power but the deterioration of Britain’s role in the world.”

That’s not to say the British Army is much better. Strom says it can’t even deploy a heavy armored division now.

Yet Prime Minister Keir Starmer continues to talk tough about a post-American NATO. Fat chance. Starmer may proclaim, “When it comes to defence and security and our economy future, we have to have closer ties with Europe,” but the rest of the continent isn’t doing all that much better when it comes to defense — or an economy, for that matter. In fact, Europe is only weeks away from running out of jet fuel because it wouldn’t help open the Strait of Hormuz.

It’s not just military might, though. Great Britain’s sclerotic government and culture has been taken over by a suffocating fear of offending the immigrants who have swarmed there over the last few decades. That may explain British reticence in participating in the effort against Iran. Strom again:

I’m not sure what the point of having a government in Britain is anymore.

Because it sure isn’t there to protect citizens. It seems to exist mainly to redistribute resources from productive people to criminals, illegal aliens, and friends of Labour politicians.

Among the most appalling stories, of which there are many, is the r@pe gangs cover-up, in which all levels of government, from the most local all the way up to the national, looked the other way as “asian” males systematically groomed and raped countless British children for decades.

But the problem is not that the powers that be tolerate crime committed by aliens and their descendants; it’s that they tolerate crime by anybody they seem to prefer, and are vicious to their own citizens who object vocally.

In America, we call that a two-tiered justice system. In Great Britain, it’s governing in fear of offending a certain class of “guests.”

Truly, the question for Great Britain is whether it is fortunate enough to have another Margaret Thatcher in its midst. Perhaps the closest figure is Nigel Farage of the Reform UK Party, but there’s no real push for him or his party to take control, nor has there been a move to hold an election in Great Britain any sooner than the 2029 mandate. Being in power, the Labour Party will certainly take its sweet time continuing to take a wrecking ball to Great Britain’s military and economy.

They may call it Great Britain, but it was nice while it lasted. Now Britain is at the barely passable stage and slipping fast.