So DH, you claim to hate colonialism. I assume then that this means that you would support Britain's pulling out of places like the Falklands and N.Ireland because they should not have been there in the first place, but colonised them at some point in history? And the same for the white South Africans (back to Britain and the Netherlands)?

Or does your anti-colonialism have a different flavour?

I believe that in the modern world any colonial agenda is wrong. I do not feel some overbearing guilt about our colonial past however, though clearly right and wrongs took place. Wrongs often included brutalization of the native peoples, but rights often included the improving of conditions for the host peoples, such as Africa etc.

As for Northern Ireland, the question is too broad. Northern Ireland has voted overwhelmingly to stay British. As has the Falklands.

Do you withdraw against the wishes of the native people? It is a tricky one.

It is a different matter for other former colonial terrorities, such as India, when the majority, not all, but the majority wanted independence.

That is the type of colonialism i disagree with, where the ruling power stays against the wishes of the people.