Although it was comparatively easy to remove for maintenance and had the further advantage that a spare caisson could be kept in reserve in case of damage, the tie-up of capital is usually found unnecessarily expensive merely as an insurance premium.
Some nationalists claim that, far from damaging the ties of kith and kin that bind the peoples of these islands together, independence will actually "enhance" our sense of Britishness.
In a statement, moreover, it seemed at pains to play down any perceived damage to the ties with Britain in the wake of Thursday night's vote in Parliament.
Yuval Steinitz, the strategic affairs minister and close Netanyahu aide, told Israel's Channel 2 that the reports were "intended to damage the strong ties between the US and Israel, despite our differences on the Iran issue".
Trees that are left staked into maturity will be damaged by the ties and much weaker than trees that are not staked.
He says that these incidents have not damaged the friendly ties between Israeli and Japan, but he severely criticized the offender calling him or her a "coward".
Still, the damage to ties between the two Asian giants has been extensive.
So on Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly lashed out at the Obama administration for what he called its refusal to set clear "red lines" that would prompt the United States to undertake a military strike on Iran's nuclear program, Israelis were generally sympathetic to Mr. Netanyahu even as they mulled the possible damage to ties with the White House.
Last week in Washington, a former American ambassador to Japan, Thomas Schieffer, said revising the 1993 apology to the women could damage Japanese ties to the United States.
Fears the issue could damage trade ties saw the Australian dollar slump against the yen in offshore trade in its biggest one-day drop in two months, hit partly by worries the detention could damage relations.
