Well, you forget the real motives again, such as your economic situation after the World Wars, which made it too expensive to hold on to the colonies by force, that the colonies had become more of a drain than an actual surplus for your economy (contrary to what "1 billion of taxpayers" insinuates) and the revolutions wthat sprung up such as the one by Gandhi etc. It's like you stole a credit card and gave it back once it was locked, and now expect a reward for giving it back.
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