The Times reports that according to Janes Information Services, Britain is world’s 7th most stable and prosperous nation.The United Kingdom has been ranked as one of the most stable and prosperous countries in the world, beating the United States, France and even Switzerland in a global assessment of every nation’s achievements and standards.
Well, sounds like good news to me… Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy to know that the UK is one of the world’s most stable and prosperous nations but I would like very much to know the criteria used by Jane’s in coming up with their assessment. You see, I still worry about sending my kids to uni in the UK because I worry about social stability in and out of the big cities of the UK.
¤
We do have binge drinking that’s costing UK coffers billions in sterling pounds due to drink-related illnesses and is one of the causes of rampant anti-social behaviour in the UK while drink bars are open 24 hours a day; 
we do have outspoken and radical Islamists in Britain who apparently put Islam first, and not so long ago, there were British Muslims in London calling for the beheading of those they believed defiled their prophet Mohammed; on the issue, we do have an increasing number of Muslim women living and working in Britain but are veiled from head to toe, a sight one expects to see in Saudi Arabia and in other parts of the Middle East (but not in London) and who claim that British laws are oppressive; and yes, we do have pedophiles, children criminals, honour killings or forced marriages, drug trafickers, and dealers along with increasing gun offences, etc., etc., but fortunately, we do have a working democracy with a good justice system backed by excellent law enforcement agencies as British PM Brown urges courts to use full powers against gun criminals, so I guess, overall, one can say the UK is relatively stable, i.e., particularly after the Northern Ireland peace talks were finally signed, sealed and delivered, because it is prosperous, i.e., UK’s GDP per head of population will reach £23,500 in 2008 – £250 higher than in the US, according to analyst Oxford Economics.
we do have outspoken and radical Islamists in Britain who apparently put Islam first, and not so long ago, there were British Muslims in London calling for the beheading of those they believed defiled their prophet Mohammed; on the issue, we do have an increasing number of Muslim women living and working in Britain but are veiled from head to toe, a sight one expects to see in Saudi Arabia and in other parts of the Middle East (but not in London) and who claim that British laws are oppressive; and yes, we do have pedophiles, children criminals, honour killings or forced marriages, drug trafickers, and dealers along with increasing gun offences, etc., etc., but fortunately, we do have a working democracy with a good justice system backed by excellent law enforcement agencies as British PM Brown urges courts to use full powers against gun criminals, so I guess, overall, one can say the UK is relatively stable, i.e., particularly after the Northern Ireland peace talks were finally signed, sealed and delivered, because it is prosperous, i.e., UK’s GDP per head of population will reach £23,500 in 2008 – £250 higher than in the US, according to analyst Oxford Economics.¤
Must say, am glad that the Archibishop of Canterbury has buried – OK, at least for the meantime – his call for Sharia Law to be included in the British legal/justice system because I have no doubt that had he succeeded in making headway in the debate, we would be seeing a not so stable United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland…
¤
On the political front, one might say that this is good news for UK Labour Party who are probably feeling the pinch after Tories gained 16-point lead in recent poll.
¤¤
Hang on! The Times defence editor remarked that among the Top 50 most stable and properous countries,
The bottom ten, surprisingly, do not include Iraq. They are listed as Gaza and the West Bank, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
Does that mean we should believe Pres Bush when he says the US is bringing stability to Iraq?
¤
Incidentally, almost half of the world’s Top 50 most stable and properous countries belong to the European Union:
1 Vatican
2 Sweden
3 Luxembourg
4 Monaco
5 Gibraltar
6 San Marino
7 Liechtenstein
8 UK
9 Netherlands
10 Ireland
11 New Zealand
12 Denmark
13 Austria
14 Andorra
15 Germany
16 Iceland
17 Switzerland
18 Portugal
19 Australia
20 Norway
21 Malta
22 France
23 Canada
24 USA
25 Belgium
26 Spain
27 Italy
28 Japan
29 Finland
30 Czech Rep
31 Samoa
32 Falkland Islands
33 Singapore
34 Guam
35 Slovakia
36 Anguilla
37 Cyprus
38 Qatar
39 Montserrat
40 Costa Rica
41 Greece
42 St Pierre and Miq
43 UAE
44 Cayman Islands
45 American Samoa
46 Virgin Islands (UK)
47 Poland
48 St Lucia
49 Oman
50 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands¤Cross posted in My Telegraph and in Hillblogger3
