So what we seem to have is:
- To start down the road, you need a good number of (relatively) younger Labour MPs around to do the work
- You need a different WW2, possibly a later/longer one so Labour has some time to ram stuff through and say "yeah war work innit"
- There'll be some pushback from disgruntled imperialists in the colonies
- The idea is still to have a empire of sorts, but more 'equal' - Britain still wants to be the Big Cheese
- It's impossible to get all the dominions onboard with this, and maybe none of the dominions (and could kick off some splitting)
- Other Empires won't be too happy you did it
Of which the last four points aren't necessarily "this definitely can't happen" but are "this definitely can't happen the way Blair hoped". But then add in what people in Britain think - most won't have voted Labour for this, so Labour can't devote all the time and energy it might need to into this at the expense of the NHS et al at home. And the Tories will wail and gnash teeth!
I'm also remembering a plot point by
@Nick Sumner in
Drake's Drum, of an analysis that finds a bunch of colonies are a net drain and if this big overhaul took place, I'm betting this would come up. "Why are we wasting time with Pimlocan Burgandy when we still need to sort out Burma, where we actually
get something?"