My previous book was famously “alarmist” (and so no doubt is my new one), but, if you’re disinclined to meet me halfway in my demographic analysis, try the United Kingdom’s Office of National Statistics:
In 2010, a quarter of births were to mothers born outside the UK, according to the ONS…
If a quarter of all babies born in England and Wales are to foreign mothers, then we’re experiencing the biggest change in our demographic identity since the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the fifth century. Future historians will regard this as the major development in early 21st-century British history…
Nothing like this has happened before. Please pay no attention next time a Left-wing historian pops up on TV to romanticise the arrival of the Normans, Huguenots, Eastern European Jews etc. These were significant influxes, but Great Britain has never been “a nation of immigrants”. Even cosmopolitan London has witnessed nothing remotely comparable to the population shift recorded by the ONS statistics. More than half of all babies born in the capital in 2010 were to foreign mothers; in the borough of Newham more than three quarters of all new mothers were born abroad.
A lot of people reading Ed West will say: “Well, so what? What’s the problem?” That’s fine if you want to turn some of the oldest nation states on the planet into an ongoing experiment. Maybe the experiment will work out fine, maybe it won’t. But, given that the nations most enthusiastically embarking on it are responsible for 90 per cent of everything the modern world takes for granted, you’d think more people might at least give some thought as to whether the gamble is worth it.
For my own part, I’d bet that many parts of mid-century Britain will be a violent, brutish, Balkanized ruin. Let’s meet for lunch circa 2035 and see who’s right.
Ok, Mr. Steyn, what happens when, as it always does, the native-born and -cultured wake up (always too late, alas) and discover that a) they are not represented in gov't; b) they are not the majority anymore so they can't really affect local society and c) they can't legally own guns to defend themselves from the coming sharia onslaught???
What happens is a new IRA, except this time dedicated to 'taking it back' -- whatever's left. And you may see a 'cleansing' of the elite political leadership that will rival the French Revolution... ;-))
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse---"and c) they can't legally own guns to defend themselves from the coming sharia onslaught???"---
you must chew through quite a few carpets.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI suppose it would be considered unfriendly to note that there might be a wee bit of difference between Huguenots and Muslims, East European Jews and sub-Saharan Africans, Normans and Pakistanis.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt would be spot-on, but might be considered un-PC in some circles...not mine, of course..;-))
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat's RAAAAAAAAAAAACIST!!!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFlag on the play!
RAAAAACIST contains only five As.
Loss of down; play continues from site of infraction.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLOL!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Unfriendly" is when you don't return your neighbor's "goodmorning"; pointing out obvious demographic and cultural realities is downright sinister and blatantly racist. How dare you.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm not sure I understand your comments. My sense is that you are suggesting not only that there are differences between the Norman invasion and modern Pakistani immigration, but that the Norman invasion was less bad. It also seems to suggest a per capita greater level of harm.
Until the 11th century, the North was the wealthier, more civilized part of England. William's "Harrying of the North" destroyed it so comprehensively that it is still the poorer region today. England was ruled by people who did not speak English at all, even to "hoodie conversational" levels and was moved to a feudal system.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse95% of the land south of the Tees was taken by Normans and there were tremendous levels of violence; not merely robbery but full scale rebellion and counter-invasion. I don't think that any anti-immigration activist posits similar figures for foreigners today.
James, you're being far too knowledgeable and sane and classy for this place.
Get with the program and offer up a cocktail of ignorance, misrepresentation, fear-mongoring and a dash of anto-immigrant bigotry such as the resident immigrant from the north is offering Americans.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAgreed that this is a disaster in waiting (or can we acknowledge it's not waiting but has already arrived ... including in the form of violent, fiery riots).
The US is undergoing the same thing: The Leftists love to recite Emma Lazarus, but anyone coming to Ellis Island needed a sponsor, financial independence, to meet intelligence and physical-fitness tests, etc.
All the "diversity" (code for "not-white" and, increasingly, "not-Asian," since Asians here tend to not be welfare cases) cant we hear today aside, for the past 400 years, "America" (today meaning the 50 states, but initially referring to the colonies out of which America grew) has been a European, and largely Northern European, culture.
Today, we have Biden celebrating in Beijing the fact that whites may soon be a minority. (I'm sure his audience is also excited by this trend.) Replacing the American native-born population with Mexican illegal immigrants does not "strengthen the important diversity of this country." Rather, it means the world will soon have two Mexicos, and zero Americas.
It's anyone's call as to whether that's an improvement or not; I think that if VP Biden was capable of a lucid moment, even he would agree it's not.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseUmmm, not sure you'll need to wait to 2035 to see the results.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDirkBelig said: That's RAAAAAAAAAAAACIST!!!
How can truth have any bias? Truth is truth. No agenda.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNote the birth only from "Foreign Mothers". Is Steyn only concerned about the mitochondrial DNA. Maybe England's finest males are getting busy with lots of foxy foreign females. That reduces problem in half right? :)
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"head in sand" is hardly an argument.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI just don't know what to say, not that this sort of statistic is a news flash. The suicide of the West...it's that simple.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBut, but..........diversity is our strength! Just think what Sharia law would do to all those UK rioters. I can hardly wait.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusedoes anyone else just want to give up after reading a Steyn article/book or blog spot. He is usually spot on, but so depressing, I can barely read him anymore.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusereading Steyn is only depressing if you expected rational, logical or factual writing.
a lot of people find reading his "stuff" a bit amusing , like watching a bear peddling a unicycle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy did you filter my comments and not these others? The ones you let thru say 'Racist' but not mine?
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