The UK is no longer a wealthy country by European standards - its dead last in GDP per capita in northern Europe (The UK ranks Number 17 in GDP per capita in Eu

The UK is no longer a wealthy country by European standards - its dead last in GDP per capita in northern Europe (The UK ranks Number 17 in GDP per capita in Europe) - basically whatever benefits the UK gained from Empire was consumed by two almost incalculably costly world wars - whatever was not blown up in Flanders Fields, was bombed flat by the Germans 25 years later. Beyond that the costs of maintaining the few remaining trapping of empire today are a sizable drag on the UK economy.