[bobman0330]

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Simply put, the Empire wasn't profitable and they couldn't afford it, and things like Suez and the spread of nationalisms deprived them of political clout to enforce their view of things.

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Exactly. Money was the key. The UK spent a ton of money and a ton of lives on WWI, barely got back on their feet before getting economically creamed by the Depression, then segued directly into a protracted and fantastically expensive war. The Britain of the 1950s was not the Britain of the 1900s or even the 1920s. They had neither the means nor the will to engage in any serious fighting overseas, and once the independence snowball got rolling, there was no credible opposition.

Even had they been capable, I seriously doubt whether they could have done anything. France fought to the bitter end to retain its colonies in Indochina and Algeria, and they were routed.