A quote from a leader in The Daily Telegraph, 8 September 2007

Belgium was partly our fault. Determined to prevent the Channel ports falling into French hands, we carved out a territory in 1831 and placed a tame princeling on its throne. Ever since, Belgium has survived by bribing and threatening its component peoples to stay together - a miniature EU, as it were. Not that the Belgian ruling house has historically shown much gratitude to Britain, intriguing with the Germans in both world wars.

Flanders, on the other hand, was a long-standing friend. Let's bring it back.