London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

You have to applaud tiny Barbados for finally cutting its colonial ties & telling the British Queen: ‘You’re fired’

The tiny Caribbean nation has decided now is the time to remove Her Majesty as its head of state. Might it spark a chain reaction among other former colonies?

Britain is under siege from all angles. Inside its borders, there’s serious unrest over how the government is handling the Covid-19 fallout and over its plans to break international law. Outside, there’s a battle with the EU over Brexit and lots of disappointed allies.

Barbados is the latest to land a blow.


The Caribbean paradise, which has a population of just 287,000 and is 21 miles (34 kilometers) long and, at its most, 14 miles wide, has announced it’s going to remove Queen Elizabeth as its head of state. Its plan is to formally split on the 55th anniversary of independence from Britain, in November 2021.

There’s a certain irony that they're still intertwined with the Queen, given independence was gained so many years ago.

An address written by Prime Minister Mia Mottley stated: “The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind,” adding “this is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving.”

Colonial is the telling word.


In 1625, the English ship Olive Blossom landed on the island and claimed it in the name of King James I. What followed from there has been recounted many times, but essentially Barbados was plundered, turned into a sugar colony and became the new “home” for African slaves.

The slave trade eventually ended and, as the generations rolled on residents created their own currency, the Barbadian Dollar, and encouraged the proliferation of their local tongue, Bajan.

But the English – by then, the British – remained. Even after the island gained its independence from the “mother country” on November 30 1966, the Queen was retained as its head of state.

Barbados is showing its chutzpah by deciding it’s time she was gone. Major other former members of the British empire, like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, still retain the Queen as head of state (she reigns over 15 in all, excluding the UK), so this is a bold move.

The timing will have been influenced by the BLM movement that has swept the globe. There’s been a massive reaction on every continent, very few places haven’t witnessed reactions – be they negative or positive.

It’s admirable how the authorities and people of Barbados have handled their response.

We’ve all seen so many protests, now they’re no longer impactful. Many have turned into violence or spawned looting, rendering their original motivations obsolete.

We’ve seen politicians express their disgust in parrot-fashion about racial inequality. Some businesses have been boycotted, some local initiatives have tried to restore balance. The thing is, none of it has changed anything structurally.

It’s all raised awareness, similar to how we all know about climate change but there’s very little impact we can effect without the system changing.

That’s what Barbados has done. No screaming, no shouting, no drama. They’ve calmly thought about it and decided to tell the Queen, a rich white woman who lives 4,200 miles away, “there’s the exit.”

It’s a demonstration of true leadership.


Her Majesty's position and title by definition placed the Barbadians beneath her. And when the 94-year-old passes away, her son Prince Charles would have stepped into the role with glee.

The Bajans won’t be sacrificing anything either. Tourism is a huge part of the economy and their sun-kissed beaches have a distinctly non-British vibe. They also have a sizeable financial sector and there’s some agricultural sectors too

They did have a serious national debt issue in 2018 and defaulted on bonds, but overall the standard of living is good.

Britain isn’t providing any lifelines and while this move will obviously damage the relationship between the two nations, it won’t impact on either in reality.

In fact, it is the Queen and Britain who should be worried. Might Barbados be the first in a line of dominoes?

Surely other nations in her realm must be thinking, do we want to be associated with a regime that enslaved millions and pillaged our lands?

It’s food for thought for the likes of Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Papua New Guinea. And might republicans in places like Australia and Canada be emboldened and slightly embarrassed about being beaten to the exit door by little Barbados?

Quite quickly, the Queen and her family could become persona non grata across a swathe of nations.

In the modern world, a downfall like that would happen rapidly. No more invites to tour nations, no more heads on stamps, a backlash against the charities they oversee and so on.

The reaction from Joe Public to the announcement has been split down predictable lines. One Twitter user fizzed: “Will this mean they also forgo any benefits or handouts they get from the British government?…they have to leave their colonial past behind & that must include the begging bowl.”

It is true Barbados has received aid from the UK via the Department for International Development.

But some of the reported sums are relatively minuscule, like £1.8 million to build a hospitality management training complex.

Britain has also given £4.5 million to the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank’s fund to support countries in the region with Covid-19 recovery.

Social media has also been flooded by those on the other side of the argument. One person beamed: “Barbados says NO to the Queen. Time for others to break the chains of colonial strangulation.”

Surely any progressive and even-minded person would agree this is positive action that deserves applause. Barbados doesn’t need to be overseen from one of the 775 rooms inside Buckingham Palace.




Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
×