ROGER KIMBALL: The reason Americans fear for Britain.
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.
Earlier this year, vice-president-elect J.D. Vance speculated that “the first truly Islamist country” to get a nuclear weapon might not be Iran or Pakistan but Britain under the Labour leadership of Keir Starmer. James Murray, the Treasury minister, responded that “in Britain, we’re very proud of our diversity.” Noted. How about the substance of your history and your civilization? Are you proud of that, too?
The rest of Europe is suffering from similar self-inflicted wounds: European civilization is in freefall.
The collapse of the French government this week is just the latest episode in a long-running drama of dysfunction. Emmanuel Macron, for all his pretensions of being Europe’s reformist saviour, has been reduced to a lame-duck president, thwarted by a fractured and hostile parliament. Germany, once deemed to be the economic powerhouse of the EU, finds itself in a similar bind, heading for early elections while its economy is battered by crippling energy policies. At a time when strong leadership is desperately needed, Europe’s elites are playing at committee politics and virtue-signalling, oblivious to the storm clouds gathering on the horizon.
Enter Trump 2.0, the antithesis of Europe’s managed decline. His bold, unapologetic vision for America is a direct challenge to the wrong-headedness and complacency of Europe’s leaders. They see his brashness as a threat, when it is precisely what the West needs – a common sense American president unafraid to confront uncomfortable truths and act decisively on the world stage.
Consider Trump’s approach to Nato. Unlike Europe’s feckless leaders, who have treated the alliance as a free ride on America’s dime, Trump demands accountability. By insisting that member states pay their fair share, he not only strengthens Nato but exposes the hypocrisy of Europeans who lecture on “shared values” while shirking their responsibilities.
On energy, the contrast is equally stark. While the UK and much of Europe cripples itself with net zero dogma, Trump is promising to unleash America’s energy sector, in an attempt to secure both economic stability and strategic autonomy. His policies, rooted in pragmatism, recognise that energy independence is achievable without sacrificing growth or security. Europe’s energy crisis is no accident; it is the direct result of leaders who prioritise green ideology over common sense.
Exit quote: “The choice before Europe is stark: continue down the path of ruin, or follow Trump’s lead and reclaim its destiny. His vision, with its emphasis on strength, self-determination, and unflinching realism, offers a lifeline to a continent on the brink. Whether Europe seizes it or squanders it will define the future of the West.”