Formal empire required Britain to fund administration and security across a wide area. A self-governing Commonwealth could preserve preferential trade and British access to markets while local governments assumed more of those burdens. That economic incentive accompanied the moral and constitutional arguments for decolonisation. Churchill and Labour also differed over the scale and pace of postwar military commitments rather than over whether social reform was needed.
Notable Point · 19:29-21:49
Why a Commonwealth was cheaper than formal empire
The prewar shift toward self-government was both a political transition and a way to retain trade while transferring security and administrative costs.