Horrific Southport bloodbath and its aftermath highlight rising tensions in UK
The horrific events in Southport unfortunately highlight deepening tensions within the UK fuelled by misinformation, bigotry, and mistrust, says Leo McKinstry.
Shockwaves of bewildered outrage continue to reverberate across Britain after this week’s atrocity in Southport which left three children dead, a host of other people injured, and a deep psychological wound on the town that might never be erased.
Incidents like this crystallise the feeling of the British public that we have been grievously betrayed by our ruling political class, who have failed to protect the vulnerable or uphold order or maintain our borders. “The gentleness of English civilisation is its most marked characteristic,” wrote George Orwell in 1941, but no-one could use such words about today’s Britain where the shadow of fear hangs over our urban landscape and anarchy on the streets is weakening the authority of the state.
Britons sense that something has gone terribly wrong in our country. There is an atmosphere of deepening tension, fuelled by bigotry and disinformation, including ludicrous claims the alleged Southport attacker was a small boats migrant on an MI6 watchlist.
The Southport bloodbath – for which a British-born 17-year-old male has been charged – triggered ugly confrontations with the police in the town itself and in other places across the country, such as Hartlepool, Aldershot and central London, where more than 100 people were arrested on Wednesday night.
These disturbances follow other, equally sickening, recent clashes with the police in Rochdale, Manchester Airport, Leeds and East London.
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As the justice system loses its moral confidence, our society appears to be increasingly fractured and dangerous. Violence against women and girls has just officially been described as a national emergency, with more than 3,000 incidents recorded every day. Knife crime is spiralling of control, as epitomised by Tuesday night’s extraordinary clash on Southend seafront between two machete-wielding groups.
Confronted by this accelerating breakdown, politicians and media outlets try to minimise its impact by prattling about “the strength of local communities”. But the more they use the word “community”, the more hollow their rhetoric sounds.
The reality is that the bonds of mutual solidarity – essential for building a peaceable society – are collapsing under the weight of unprecedented levels of mass immigration. More than 1.2 million foreign arrivals legally settled here last year, while the number of illegal migrants crossing the English Channel continues to surge.
We are paying a heavy price for this social revolution. The sheer size of the influx means that neither integration nor security checks are possible. Just as worryingly, the official creed of multiculturalism means that newcomers, instead of adopting British values, are encouraged to cling to the customs, practices and even the languages of their native lands.
So we end up importing institutional misogyny, gang warfare, and Islamic extremism, while British identity and nationhood, which were central to the creation of Western civilisation, are drastically eroded. Moreover, in the increasing absence of a shared common culture, violent or alienating behaviour by migrants is often labelled – and even excused – as a mental health condition.
Rather than addressing public concerns, the politicians fall back on their set script for these tragic occasions. So they lay flowers, and mouth their platitudes about “thoughts and prayers”.
They keep telling us that “diversity is our strength”, hoping that through sheer repetition we will learn to accept this Orwellian slogan, just as they urge us “to unite” against those who try to divide us. But it is the politicians who have brought division and bigotry into our midst. They are the ones destroying social cohesion, fomenting radicalism and promoting sectarianism.
People are now beginning to see through the official narrative. That explains why the Prime and his Home Secretary Yvette Cooper were heckled during their visit to Southport. The public wants tough action on border protection and the fight against crime, yet they are unlikely to get it from Sir Keir’s Government.
Beyond banalities and bureaucratic tinkering, Labour remains ideologically wedded to free movement and soft sentences. They were the architects of the modern governmental fixations with human rights and mental health. Even now Ms Cooper is planning an amnesty for at least 70,000 illegal immigrants. How many knife wielders and jihadists will be among them?
