to laugh at David Cameron's jingoism?

[skylerwhite]

And his airbrushed view of British history?

Link here. Apparently 'Britain' invented anything in the world worth inventing, every sport currently played around the world, and has 'the proudest history'. I think he's been watching too many repeats of Love Actually.

'I think he's been watching too many repeats of Love Actually'

He's a muppet. This is just the latest example of his muppetry. I think laughing is absolutely the right response so YANBU

No, you're not BU. He's a prat. And to think I used to be a paid up member of the Tory Party [hides head in shame].

In fairness, it IS his job to extol the nation's praises, isn't it?

Are you ashamed of your countries past successes?

I loathe the ghastly little prick, but can't really fault him for the sentiment he has expressed here, even if he is at heart as much of an Anglophile as Putin is.

He has a very loose grasp of British History for someone so expensively educated.

Would you rather he said this country was useless and had nothing to be proud of, is that what you think OP? Why do you think that? Please explain your reasoning.

Of course he should have just rolled over and allowed Putin to insult our country.

We do have a lot to be proud of but if you dont like it here and think somewhere else would suit you better then feel free to leave.

I thought he was marvellous. Putin was extremely rude and Britain has made an amazing contribution for such a small island.

So he should of just taken crap off Russia ( they are denying saying what has been alleged though) and not come to the defence of the UK?

Sorry but there are many things that are Great about the UK (i speak as a second generation immigrant) and our Prime Minister should be singing the praises of the country he represents.

I would rather he hadn't stood up at an international conference, knowing what he said would be played around the world and ignored the devastation caused by Britain in the Days of Empire. It's one thing to be proud of your country but quite another to tell other people that centuries of appalling foreign policy is a good thing because now everyone can enjoy a game of cricket. The glory of the industrial revolution involved the deliberate and systematic dismantling of India's cotton industry, for example, which was awesome for us, it meant that Manchester was processing 60% of the worlds cotton, despite growing 0% and those pesky Indians who lost their jobs? Send then to the other colonies, it's better than giving work to slaves who used to do it for free. It's embarrassing to have someone in his position talk like that on a world stage, especially when they are talking about invading yet another country.

It would have been easy to make light of Putins remarks without being so insulting to the countries we have royally screwed over the years.

Look at the early research and the first attempts at many inventions or Medical knowledge and the UK has contributed a lot.

The UK Is very significant in world wide events for a "small island".

On that basis no Nation can have positive things to say about itself.

David Cameron did a fantastic job.
Putin: an arse.

Wot she said ^^

I might be wrong, but I think that Britain is the only county to have invaded all but 20 other countries in the world. You can spout about art and music and science as much as you like but you can't tell other countries that the reason you are great is because you are standing on their backs without being, at best, undiplomatic. There are so many things he could have said about cultural and scientific achievement but he chose to go down the Bullingdon/Empire, route. I think that's whats so galling about it. He is the bloody prime minister, he should have a bit of tact and a basic grasp of the history of the country that he is prime minister of. The only good thing about it is he showed that he is not as big of an arse as Putin but he was slipping down to a 'mine is bigger than yours' level, which is not what you want in a world leader at a time of international crisis.

Anyway, it's an archipelago.

Putin is a cunt. I'd rather have Cameron any day. I think it's great that he said what he did and that's coming from an Irishwoman.

This is pretty much the only thing that Call me Dave has said that I agree with.

Hmm there has been the Roman Empire, the Hunnic Empire, the Mongolian Empire and the Viking Empire to name a few. I don't think we are the only country to have invaded other countries.

Well, thats not what I said, is it? Additionally there aren't actual people watching that speech who can pinpoint decisions made by the Hun, Romans and Mongols that fucked their family over in a way that the fall out is still felt. We all know that we're rich because we don't have to pay a proper amount of money for goods and services from the empire, guess what? They know it too. People are being killed in Nigeria and Kashmir and probably a load of other places to right now, today, because of the very thing that Dave is boasting about. The Romans aren't making a televised speech about why it's so great that they shafted the Celts, are they?

Feel sorry for his parents.....spent all that money on Eton/Oxford and he's still an ignorant tosser who's never managed to have a proper job!!

YANBU to laugh at David Cameron, full stop. Ghastly...

I'm surprised he didn't say the British Empire was a civilising mission, to be honest. I suspect he thinks that. And yes - the idea that Britain has been a force for good in the world, when it forcefully colonised millions of people around the world, is narrow minded and myopic to say the least.

Also it's a bit rich to lecture Russia about defeating fascism, seeing as the Soviet Union had 20m citizens killed during WW2, and the war was essentially won on the Eastern Front.

As for 'if you don't like Britain, go somewhere else' - what a load of nonsense. By that logic, the only people to live in Britain would be those who agreed 100% with everything that Britain had ever done.

Putin is an arse, of course. But so is Cameron.

Lol at some of the people on this thread!

FWIW I think that it is fab that we finally have a leader again that can say what needs to be said, when it needs to be said. I really don't think his history education is lacking in any way - colonisation and empire is a part of our history, indeed. But to bring it up would have been silly and inappropriate. It reminds me of that Harry Enfield sketch where Juergen the German is going about his business then suddenly gets paranoid and feels he has to 'apologise for my country's conduct during the war'. Germany may have been at the bottom of WW2, but they also have a rich history and make a really reliable car.

I'm just glad it wasn't Tony Blair over there at the summit. He would have bent over a chair and said "Say it again Putin, this time a bit harder".

Why would it have been silly and inappropriate to acknowledge colonialism?

I don't even know where to start with your comments on Germans....

But he did bring it up, and it was inappropriate