A friend of mine once told me how her son, then eight years old, had thrown a tantrum and threatened to walk out on her. She dared him. Fuming, he packed and prepared to set out. He never did. By nightfall he realised that his bravado couldn't survive the big, bad world outside.

His reaction is emblematic of Jamaica's relationship with the UK. There has always been rage against Britain, for almost 200 years of slavery and more than 100 years as a wrung-out colonial dishrag. But we've generally huffed and puffed and done nothing about it.

Now Jamaica has seemingly summoned up the cojones to go one better than my friend's son: it's putting out the old lady (in this case, the Queen).…  Seguir leyendo »