In this opinion piece, commentator Daniel Hannan argues that the UK finds itself unusually isolated internationally, citing a series of recent diplomatic frictions: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland's devolved leaders meeting in Cardiff to demand referendums, the US president reportedly questioning support for Britain over the Falklands, and tensions with Argentina, Israel, the EU, China and Russia. He contends this global unpopularity is not coincidental but linked to what he sees as decades of British elites — lawyers, academics, broadcasters and civil servants — disparaging the country's history and legacy.

Hannan lists specific examples, including Argentina sanctioning oil firms that recognise British Falklands sovereignty, two Israeli ministers calling for the islands to be handed to Argentina, a US congressman proposing Britain's break-up, and Caribbean and African nations demanding slavery reparations from the UK rather than from the states that enslaved people. He also references Mauritius's disputed claim to the Chagos Islands and invokes philosopher Roger Scruton's phrase the "Down With Us Party" to describe domestic critics he believes fuel anti-British sentiment abroad, noting a broader rise in anti-colonial feeling among younger generations in former colonies.