Which PoD would give a more 'vibrant' UK as of 2012?

JJohnson

Banned
Which PoD at any point at or after 1900 would give us a UK that is more 'vibrant' - more economically, politically, socially, culturally dominant in the world? I'm looking for something that would give 2012 a United Kingdom that has more significant force projection militarily, a higher economic output, and no 'decline' into a socialist state as some would call it, after WW2. OTL, the United States had a huge postwar boom that let it become the dominant superpower, but what could help the United Kingdom to share in that boom and not retreat into itself?

I'm not highly familiar with post-war Britain or the interwar period, so any information would be helpful.
 
A potential POD could perhaps come with "In Place of Strife", a proposed 1969 document that would have set limits on trade union militancy. The Wilson Government, unfortunately, blinked and so Britain's economic nightmare of the 1970s begun. Thatcherism (from my Right-wing perspective) did quite a lot to remedy the ills of the past few decades, but undoubtedly left plenty of communities across the country scarred quite badly, a degree of scarring that the Labour administration of 1997-2010 did little to seriously remedy.

So, pass IPoS somehow in the late 1960s, and avoid the chaos of the 1970s, and the destructive medicine of the 1980s. Britain isn't going into Europe at any time soon, and will remain facing outward and focused on the Commonwealth and Atlantic, which will bear fruit long term. Have a more gradual transition to liberal economics in the 1980-1995 period, without organised union aggression using working class communities as human shields.
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I think it's difficult to answer this question without partisan bias, so I've not attempted to. That's my personalised answer of a way that it could be done. You need to tame union militancy before the Thatcherite sledgehammer comes down, and ideally you don't want Britain to turn inward and focus exclusively on Europe to the exclusion of the wider world.
 

JJohnson

Banned
Are unions different from the way they run in the United States? Are there 'closed shops' where you have to join the union to work in a place? Are there "right to work" counties / countries within the UK where you cannot be forced to join unions? Are dues used for political campaigns without employees' consent? And have unions had issues with 'aggression' shall we say, as has been seen in the US (a man had his finger bitten off, for one example)?
 
It's a difficult question to answer because Britain had fundamental weaknesses in its economy for so long that it was inevitably going to be surpassed by other powers so I don't think that any one PoD will act as a "magic bullet."

Avoiding WW1 helps or, as seems likely, it can't be avoided, have the initial assault on the Dardanelles in Spring 1915 be better planned and therefore succeed, potentially shortening the war by at least a year.

For the inter-war years, do not resume the gold standard in 1924, this potentially gives you a better exchange rate allowing for export led growth and possibly avoiding the General Strike, at the very least Britain will be better placed to weather the Great Depression potentially resulting in more money to fund rearmament when the time comes.

In WW2, concentrate on securing Libya before diverting forces into Greece. This gives you thousands more experienced men, and better General's to be sent east in 1941 to face the Japanese. The woeful performance of the British in that campaign destroyed our credibility in the region, if Malaya and Burma had held then the Pacific War is potentially shortened by at least a year so Britain isn't as financially burdened by the cost of the war. It also prevents the perception of Britain as a declining power who had to keep being rescued by the Americans from being created.

Post War there's almost too many to choose from, but as well as BG's suggestion of In Place of Strife being implemented have Eden hold his nerve over Suez for another 36-48 hours for the entire Canal to be captured and then he can negotiate its future from a stronger position.
 
Are unions different from the way they run in the United States? Are there 'closed shops' where you have to join the union to work in a place? Are there "right to work" counties / countries within the UK where you cannot be forced to join unions? Are dues used for political campaigns without employees' consent? And have unions had issues with 'aggression' shall we say, as has been seen in the US (a man had his finger bitten off, for one example)?

The Closed Shop existed but was abolished by Thatcher in the late 1980's. today Unions are strongest in the public sector, especially in the traditional Labour strongholds but are much weaker in the private sector.
 
This sort of discussion illustrates why you aren't gonna see a British superpower.

Britain is per capita richer than the USA today. But it's not a world power in the same league, because at the end of the day it doesn't control a continent.
 

JJohnson

Banned
That is true. Would it make any difference if the UK, like France, still held some larger overseas territories? Maybe an extra settler colony or two remains part of the UK, like British Guiana or Belize?
 
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