British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, July 11, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)
At The Spectator, Roger Kimball explains that the old England is dying, and it’s being replaced with “a more sinister society.” He writes:
As an American Anglophile, I find it difficult not to look upon the news emanating from Great Britain and despair. “Terminally ill pensioners could end their lives earlier to spare loved ones six figure tax bills, experts have warned,” says the Telegraph. A Christian preacher in West London has just had his conviction upheld for standing in silent protest too close to an abortion clinic while holding a placard displaying a Bible verse.
The old England, which cherished liberty, is dying and a more sinister society is emerging in its place. Prime Minister Keir Starmer just gave an extraordinary speech in which he admitted that Britain’s open immigration policies were an “open borders experiment.” He blamed the Tories, even though the floodgates were opened under Tony Blair.
The old England, which cherished liberty, is dying and a more sinister society is emerging in its place
Preserving the emotion of virtue is paramount to Labour, which is why Britain under Starmer, while signaling that he understands the concerns over immigration, has upped the ante on wokeness and censorship.
Following the summer’s violent riots after the Southport attack, a House of Commons Committee on Science and Technology announced that it wanted to call Elon Musk, who owns X (formerly Twitter) to give evidence on “social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms.” Musk responded that the committee members “will be summoned to the United States of America to explain their censorship and threats to American citizens.” Good for him.
Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, noted that police officers would be “scouring social media” to identify and arrest people who had the temerity to write things the Crown Prosecution Service deemed “insulting or abusive which is intended to or likely to start racial hatred.” Several people, including a fifty-five-year-old woman, have been arrested for reposting words that fell afoul of Britain’s new censors. A woman in Newcastle, meanwhile, was arrested for standing quietly on the street while holding a sign that read “Fight The Government Not Each Other.”
How about the people distributing notices in Jewish neighborhoods with the legend, written in Hebrew, “Every Zionist needs to leave Britain or be Slaughtered”? The police are apparently too busy with other threats to pay much attention. Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force, threatened to extradite foreign citizens who violated Britain’s speech codes. “Whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you,” he said. Good luck with that, Mark.
It looks as if you might have to be awfully careful about what you say or write in Britain. The latest wheeze is the possibility of instituting blasphemy laws. Speaking in the House of Commons recently, Labour member of parliament Tahir Ali asked: “Will the prime minister commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions?” Starmer did not indicate that he opposed it.
Read more here.
If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for the Richardcyoung.com free weekly email.
