Closing arguments were finally <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/27/asia/jimmy-lai-hong-kong-trial-intl-hnk">completed</a> at the end of August in the National Security Law trial of Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai. Mr. Lai stands accused of colluding with foreign powers and faces life in prison. In all likelihood, the court will find Jimmy Lai guilty and sentence him to prison. 
While we await the final verdict, the West should make a plan to help free Jimmy Lai.
To say Jimmy Lai has lived a remarkable life is an understatement. Born in mainland China, the now 77-year-old Lai moved to British Hong Kong when he was 12, where he believed he would have a better future. Starting out working in a factory, Lai worked his way up, eventually owning his own factory before starting the world-famous fashion brand, Giordano. As a billionaire with homes in London, Paris, and New York, Lai could have easily rested on his laurels and enjoyed a quiet retirement. However, Lai had a great appreciation for the political and economic system that allowed him to build his wealth.
As a British colony, Hong Kong enjoyed the rule of law and free market economics that allowed it to thrive. However, the handover of the city back to communist China loomed large. In an effort to fight for the values that made Hong Kong great, Jimmy Lai founded the Apple Daily newspaper. Becoming one of the largest pro-democracy newspapers in Hong Kong, Apple Daily and its founder fell in the crosshairs of the communists in mainland China through its pro-liberty content. Lai himself drew attention through his annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Massacre, a huge sore spot for Beijing.
While <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/hong-kong-freedoms-democracy-protests-china-crackdown">promised</a> a degree of autonomy for 50 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gradually encroached on the freedoms of Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million people. The Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution, promises freedom of speech and rule of law; the past few decades, however, have seen a gradual erosion of these rights. For example, millions of Hong Kongers took to the streets to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49340717">protest</a> a proposed law that would allow Hong Kongers to be extradited for trials in mainland China. While this law was retracted, it wasn’t long before something similar was implemented to take its place.
That brings us to the <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/what-is-hong-kongs-article-23-law-10-things-you-need-to-know/">National Security Law</a> (NSL), which came into effect in 2020. Essentially, the NSL criminalizes any speech or behavior that the government sees as threatening its authority. For Jimmy Lai and other pro-democracy activists, this put them in danger. As was feared, the NSL has resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people. In a city once famous for its independent courts, the NSL has seen a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/29/china/hong-kong-47-verdict-intl-hnk">conviction rate</a> near 100%.
It was shortly after the implementation of the NSL that Jimmy Lai found himself in legal trouble. In August 2020, Lai was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/10/900758905/prominent-hong-kong-publisher-arrested-under-new-national-security-law">arrested</a> and paraded through Apple Daily’s office, allegedly for colluding with foreign powers. The truth, however, was that Lai objects to the authoritarianism of the CCP and wants to fight to preserve the freedoms that made Hong Kong great.
<div id="attachment_971739" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-971739" class="size-large wp-image-971739" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-866x576.jpg" alt="HONG KONG, CHINA - AUGUST 10: A handout photo from Apple Daily showing Hong Kong business tycoon Jimmy Lai led by police officers during a search at the headquarters of Apple Daily after Lai, was arrested at his home on August 10, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong police arrested seven people, including business tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday on charges of violating the territory's new national security law. Police officers raided the pro-democracy newspapers headquarter while leading Mr. Lai and the company's chief executive, Cheung Kim-hung, through the offices in handcuffs. (Photo by Handout/Getty Images)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Handout/Getty Images</div>
It isn’t just the cause that makes Jimmy Lai a hero: Lai didn’t need to face the risk of arrest. In addition to his various homes around the world, Lai is a British passport holder. He could have fled Hong Kong at any time after the NSL became law. Many Hong Kongers already have. Running, however, is not in Jimmy Lai’s nature. As he <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/jimmy-lai-and-fight-freedom-hong-kong-1">put it</a>, “I am one of the troublemakers. I cannot cause trouble and then leave.” Lai risked everything by fighting for liberty and again risked it by staying when he could have left.
Even while he waits for a verdict, Lai faces terrible <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2025/09/04/jimmy-lais-life-at-serious-and-immediate-risk-in-detention/">prison conditions</a>. He is being held in solitary confinement, 23 hours a day. He has significant health problems but is being denied proper care. There is a good possibility that Lai could die in prison simply due to the conditions of his imprisonment, which is why the West must act quickly.
What can be done? For starters, political figures across the West should continue calling for Lai’s release. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/13/china/trump-jimmy-lai-closing-arguments-intl-hnk">President Trump</a> has joined the chorus of <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/the-dissident-beijing-cant-break-jimmy-lai-hong-kong">international voices</a> calling for Lai’s freedom. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to fulfill his country’s obligation to stand up for Hong Kong’s autonomy. Lai is a British passport holder and therefore he is Starmer’s responsibility. In addition to public pressure, Starmer must also pause the construction of a new <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c864w2942vdo">Chinese mega embassy</a> in London. China should not be allowed a larger presence in the British capital while it actively persecutes dissidents.
Western governments can also sanction those involved in the administration of NSL trials. The U.S. has already <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-sanctions-six-individuals-for-undermining-hong-kongs-autonomy">sanctioned</a> several Hong Kong officials, but it can expand them to include senior HK officials such as Chief Executive John Lee, as well as the judges involved in these trials. The “One Country, Two Systems” framework promises Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, something the NSL interferes with.
Finally, other economic tools can also be applied. Legislatures should consider efforts such as tariffs on Chinese goods as a way to put pressure on Beijing. Restricting the flow of advanced microchips into China would hit the Chinese government where it hurts and impose a cost for its oppression of Hong Kongers like Jimmy Lai.
The Chinese will, of course, counter by saying this is foreign interference in an internal matter. The problem with that argument is that China’s promises to Hong Kong are recorded in a legally binding international treaty, the <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8616/">Sino-British Joint Declaration</a>. Sanctions are an appropriate response to breaking that treaty.
So, why should the West care about what happens to Jimmy Lai? First, what happens in Hong Kong doesn’t necessarily stay there. The Chinese government already has an extensive network set up to threaten dissidents living abroad. The construction of the mega embassy means these efforts will only continue and affect more British citizens. Second, Lai represents a voice for liberty in Hong Kong and China as a whole. If we want freedom to thrive, the world needs people like Jimmy Lai.
The clock is ticking for Jimmy Lai. Any day now, the judges hearing his case could sentence him to life in prison. His health and prison conditions mean his stay behind bars could quickly lead to his death. If the West wants to preserve its own freedom and that of Hong Kong’s, it needs to act to save Jimmy Lai.
* * *
<a href="https://www.joinyv.org/talent/matthew-cookson">Matt Cookson</a> is an alumnus of the Young Voices Contributor Program and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense Contractor. His commentary has appeared in the Mises Institute, Real Clear Politics, the National Interest, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @<a href="https://x.com/MattCookson95">MattCookson95</a> and Substack @<a href="https://substack.com/@thewaythecookiecrumbles?utm_source=user-menu">thewaythecookiecrumbles</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

China Imposes National Security Law In Hong Kong

The Clock Is Ticking For Jimmy Lai. Time For The West To Act.

China

Democracy

Free Speech

Great Britain

Hong Kong

Jimmy Lai

Opinion

Graham Linehan Appears In Court Charged With Harassment

A Comedian Was Jailed In The UK For Jokes. Is Britain Now North Korea?

Comedy

Matt Walsh

Social Media Censorship

Thank God we fought a revolution in this country so that we are not ruled by the idiotic rules of the modern United Kingdom.
Graham Linehan is a comedian and comedy writer who was just arrested in the UK — for his tweets.
Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in the UK. In mid-August, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/19/world-news/uk-free-speech-struggle-30-arrests-a-day-censorship/">titled an article</a>, “UK free speech crackdown sees up to 30 people a day arrested for petty offenses such as retweets and cartoons.” The Post wrote:
<blockquote>Bernadette Spofforth lay in jail on a blue gym mattress in a daze, finding it difficult to move, even breathe. “I just closed down. But the other half of my brain went into Jack Reacher mode,” she said, referring to the fictional action hero. “Every single detail was in this very vivid, bright, sharp focus.”
She remembers noticing that you can’t drown yourself in the toilet, because there’s no standing water in it and the flush button is too far to reach if your head were in the bowl. She’d end up being detained for 36 hours in July 2024. Three girls had just been <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/20/world-news/uk-teen-pleads-guilty-to-murder-of-three-girls-at-taylor-swift-themed-dance-party/">murdered in Southport</a>, England, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party. But Spofforth was not under suspicion for the crime.
Instead, horrified, and in the fog of a developing tragedy, she’d reposted on X another user’s content blaming newly arrived migrants for the ghastly crime — clarifying in her retweet, “If this is true.” Hours later she realized she may have received bad information and deleted the post — but it had already been seen thousands of times. &#8230;
Her story is one repeated almost hourly in the UK, where data suggests <a href="https://freespeechunion.org/police-make-30-arrests-a-day-for-offensive-online-messages/">over 30 people a day are arrested</a> for speech crimes, about 12,000 a year, under laws written well before the age of social media that make crimes of sending “grossly offensive” messages or sharing content of an “indecent, obscene or menacing character.”</blockquote>
Four police vehicles arrived at her home days later.
Linehan <a href="https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/i-just-got-arrested-again">wrote on</a> Substack:
<blockquote>The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets. In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet (and no, I promise you, I am not making this up.)</blockquote>
The tweet read: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the ba**s.”
Linehan was arrested for that tweet. He was also arrested for another tweet in which there was a gigantic trans protest in London, of which he tweeted a photo, captioned, “A photo you can smell,” followed by a tweet in which he wrote, “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”
“At Heathrow police station, my belt, bag, and devices were confiscated,” he wrote. “Then I was shown into a small green-tiled cell with a bunk, a silver toilet in the corner and a message from Crimestoppers on the ceiling next to a concave mirror that was presumably there to make you reflect on your life choices. &#8230; At one point, I said ‘I bet I know who made this complaint. Lindsay Watson’ (demented ex-copper troon who was fired for his online conduct). Then, lo-and-behold, one of my lawyers sent me this reply to the ‘bollocks’ tweet.”
The reply stated, “That weird ex-copper claims he has reported this to police and is trying to get other troons to do so. Just FYI.”
Welcome to England, the birthplace of the Magna Carta, where they are tearing down the institutions that make a functional society.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2272-the-uk-s-free-speech-crackdown?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
It&#8217;s not just that these folks in the UK are interested in tearing away free speech and saying you’re not allowed to tweet a bad thing, that bad tweets might land you in jail: They are importing people from parts of the planet who hate and despise all of the centralizing Western principles, such as free speech.
I write in “Lions And Scavengers” about the coalition of scavengers, about the idea that you have barbarians — the people from outside who hate our civilization — who join forces with the lechers inside our civilization who believe that they are marginalized by our traditional institutions and values, and then they make common cause together. 
That&#8217;s the UK in a nutshell.
It is no coincidence that on Tuesday, the Home Secretary of the UK, Yvette Cooper, said that the UK is going to take in refugees from Gaza. She stated:
<blockquote>I confirm that the Home Office has put in place systems to issue expedited visas with biometric checks conducted prior to arrival for children and their immediate accompanying family members. We have done the same for all the Chevening scholars and are now in the process of doing so for the next group of students from Gaza who have been awarded fully funded scholarships and places at UK universities so that they can start their studies in autumn this year.
Later this year, we will set out plans to establish a permanent framework for refugee students to come and study in the UK so that we can help more talented young people fleeing war and persecution to find a better future, alongside capped and managed ways for refugees to work here in the UK.</blockquote>
Congrats to the people of Great Britain. They don&#8217;t just have to contend with the insanity inside their borders, but out of some sort of misplaced sympathy, they are going to be importing people who almost certainly do not share their values.
There are plenty of other countries on planet Earth that are more akin ideologically and culturally to the people of Gaza, but according to the wonderful folks in the UK, those countries don’t exist.
There&#8217;s been some opposition within Westminster to taking in refugees from Gaza.
Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick expressed apprehension at the idea of resettling Palestinians in the UK. He wrote in The Telegraph, “The truth is that Gaza&#8217;s Arab neighbors are prepared to offer humanitarian support, but consider the idea of inviting Gazans into the country at any scale a risk only a fool would take.”
Which, of course, is true.
This is a misapplied sense of guilt directed at the Third World by the Labor Party in the UK, a belief that in the oppressor/oppressed matrix, the UK is an oppressor; Israel is an oppressor; the people of Gaza are the oppressed, and therefore the people of the UK must accept people who believe that Western civilization is in and of itself wrong and terrible.
As a side note, we should point out at this point here that Qatar — which is essentially Hamas with nicer suits — owns much of London.
“A cursory look at Property Week shows that the Qatari Investment Authority, Qatari Holding and Qatari Diar own 23,253,699 square feet of London, making Qatar the largest owner of London property. Reports vary about the sum invested, alleged to be £35 billion. Qatar’s square footage is more than HM The Queen’s Crown Estate,” Sunday Guardian Live <a href="https://latest.sundayguardianlive.com/world/10394-qatar-largest-owner-london-property?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reported</a>.
If you ever wonder why Europe is so warm toward importing people who truly hate their civilization, a big part of the reason is this — money.

Demonstrations Held Outside Migrant Accommodations Across The UK

The UK’s Free Speech Crackdown

airport

Ben Shapiro

England

Jail

Transgender

British Member of Parliament Nigel Farage fended off attacks from Democrats on Wednesday while he warned lawmakers about threats to free speech Americans may face from his home country. 
Farage, the leader of Reform U.K., gave the warning as he testified before the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing on “Europe’s Threats to American Speech and Innovation.” The British politician pointed to the arrest of Irish comedian Graham Linehan for posts he made critical of transgender ideology as a warning for Americans who may hope to visit England one day. 
“This could happen to any American man or woman [who] goes to Heathrow [who] has said things online that the British government and British police don’t like. It is a potentially big threat to tech bosses, to many, many others,” Farage said. “This legislation we’ve got will damage trade between our countries, threaten free speech across the West because of the knock-on rollout effects of this legislation from us or from the European Union.”
Farage, whose party appears poised for a major victory in the next United Kingdom elections, urged American politicians and business leaders to stand up to the British government. 
“I come from a land of Magna Carta, I come from a land that gave us the mother of parliaments, and it doesn’t give me any great joy to be sitting in America and describing the really awful, authoritarian situation that we have now sunk into,” he said. 
The center of Farage’s ire is a law called the Online Safety Act, which he says was written vaguely to allow for a crackdown on speech the British government doesn’t like. 
Farage was repeatedly pressed by Democrats on the committee, who attacked him as a “fringe politician.” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the committee, said that Farage was a “far-right pro-Putin politician” and a “Trump sycophant and wannabe.” 
&#8220;I&#8217;m delighted to reacquaint with the charming Mr. Raskin,” Farage said. “Delightful testimony you gave me earlier on with your speech. But hey, that&#8217;s fine, you can say what you like, I don&#8217;t care. Because that&#8217;s what free speech is.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Reform U.K. leader <a href="https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nigel_Farage</a>: &#8220;I&#8217;m delighted to reacquaint with the charming Mr.Raskin. Delightful testimony you gave me earlier on with your speech. But hey, that&#8217;s fine, you can say what you like, I don&#8217;t care. Because that&#8217;s what free speech is.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/kfY7mfmJ4X">pic.twitter.com/kfY7mfmJ4X</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1963271950966370363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“We will do whatever we can that is practical to protect kids from serious harm online, but we will get back to the idea that I can insult you, you can insult me, Mr. Raskin and I can have our chats,” Farage later said. “But we do it in a spirit that’s not inciteful and in a way that honors those who built our great countries.”
Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson also attacked Farage, trying to claim that Trump was Farage’s mentor and pointing out that the British politician attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last year. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
💥💥💥 <a href="https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nigel_Farage</a> HUMILIATES <a href="https://twitter.com/RepHankJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepHankJohnson</a>!
Watch for yourself. 😂 <a href="https://t.co/XrEDCBKoLt">pic.twitter.com/XrEDCBKoLt</a>
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1963269179206729796?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Another witness who testified during the hearing was Alliance Defending Freedom International lawyer Lorcán Price, who testified about the dangers of the European Union’s Digital Services Act. 
“Why should this matter for Americans? Why should you be concerned? Because of the worldwide reach of European law,” Price said. “The so-called Brussels effect changes regulation in every area that the European Union chooses to regulate, and now they’ve entered the business of regulating speech.”
That act empowers the European Commission to impose significant financial penalties on tech companies it claims are not doing enough to combat so-called disinformation. In some circumstances, American tech companies could be fined up to six percent of their global revenue if they violate certain conditions.

MixCollage-03-Sep-2025-01-28-PM-7984

Nigel Farage Spars With Dems As He Warns About ‘Authoritarian’ Crackdown On Free Speech

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

House Judiciary Committee

Jamie Raskin

Nigel Farage

Parliament

United Kingdom

George Carlin had his seven words you can’t say on TV, but today there is only one ineffable (un-sayable) word in American public life. You all know what it is. That one-word ban is due to the unique history and politics of the United States.
Are there any ineffable political beliefs?
In America, not yet. The Constitution’s First Amendment allows us to speak our minds. Other than calling for violent overthrow of the government or the immediate commission of a crime, we can say what we want. That includes bizarre, unpleasant, or even insane beliefs.
But in Australia, Canada, and Europe, free speech on asylum, migration, and national identity is increasingly being curtailed by law.
Western countries are undergoing massive, and often unpopular, demographic change. In democracies, the people have the right to discuss all political issues and decide what their own future should be. Yet increasingly, speech is prescribed, especially in the English-speaking world.
The news site Axios recently <a href="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-0229ba50-fb70-47e4-924a-ed4b931d1c13.html?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&amp;stream=top">wrote</a> that &#8220;[i]n MAGA&#8217;s telling, America is the heir to ancient European civilizations, built on a Judeo-Christian foundation of white identity, meritocracy and traditional gender roles.&#8221; Axios is clearly trying to be critical here, but what’s their issue?
I’d substitute the race-baiting term “white” with the more accurate “European,” and add something about free markets and free speech, but Axios describes exactly why millions flee the Third World and what they&#8217;re coming to. But as Western countries absorb those millions, the rules on what speech and conduct is acceptable are changing to accommodate them, with government complicity.
As popular dissent grows, opposing the progressive establishment’s insistence that migration is an unalloyed good is increasingly risky. Being a nationalist, meaning putting your nation first. Calling to limit all — not just illegal — migration. Criticizing over-generous and easily-gamed asylum systems.
Advocating for indigenous rights for Europeans. Citing official <a href="https://www.azerbaycan24.com/en/german-politician-convicted-for-sharing-migrant-crime-stats/">statistics</a> that show nationals of some countries commit violent crime at rates many times that of natives. Citing <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/14/britain-pay-for-costs-low-skilled-migration-for-generations/">studies</a> that show low-skilled migrants actually take more in benefits from the fiscal pot over their lifetime than they put in. All these can land one in hot water in some supposedly free countries that are close U.S. allies.
The most toxic topic is the war in the Middle East, which has little connection to the lives of everyday Westerners but inspires demonstrations from <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/13/1224641296/gaza-dc-march-ceasefire-israel-protest">Washington</a>, D.C. to <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/570172/watch-pro-palestinian-protests-across-country-call-on-government-to-sanction-israel">Wellington</a>, NZ.
A two-tier attitude to free speech is rapidly developing across the Anglophone world, where provocative behavior is tolerated from supporters of Palestinians that would have been unimaginable only a generation ago.
In Australia, thousands of <a href="https://apnews.com/video/thousands-rally-at-pro-palestinian-marches-across-australia-1409f7e23ca2493085aa77bc8d361eba">protesters</a> took to the streets recently “demanding that the Australian government take action against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza,” according to AP News. They chanted “free, free Palestine,” as they waved a Palestinian flags.
In Canada, the group <a href="https://x.com/mtl4palestine/status/1953598884489674804">Montreal4 Palestine</a> has held public Muslim <a href="https://x.com/ThevoiceAlexa/status/1957223530539454540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1957223530539454540%7Ctwgr%5E2b5d1b302916d487c1c2c13a5cb72e0e7e937e65%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rebelnews.com%2Fwatch_protesters_face_off_against_islamic_public_prayer_in_montreal">prayers</a> outside the Basilica of Notre Dame. Quebec is a French-speaking province and heavily Catholic. The symbolism of Muslim prayers in front of a prominent Catholic church, under flapping Palestinian flags, is powerful. Montreal4 Palestine protesters held a banner saying “we fight, we liberate, we return,” a slogan echoing the goals of Hamas. An opposing group of <a href="https://x.com/ThevoiceAlexa/status/1957205906225049709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1957205906225049709%7Ctwgr%5E2b5d1b302916d487c1c2c13a5cb72e0e7e937e65%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rebelnews.com%2Fwatch_protesters_face_off_against_islamic_public_prayer_in_montreal">counter-protesters</a> carrying Quebec flags and playing patriotic songs was much smaller.
Meanwhile in England, indigenous people are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/england-flag-displays-powerful-symbol-immigration-fight-trump-style-populism-sweeps-through-uk">flying</a> the English flag, a cross of St. George on a white background. Some are doing so spontaneously, and others as part of <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/england-flag-displays-powerful-symbol-immigration-fight-trump-style-populism-sweeps-through-uk">Operation Raise the Colours</a>. Critics try and tie it all to far-right extremism, but there is a groundswell to this movement that exceeds the tiny numbers of the radical right in Great Britain.
The London borough of Tower Hamlets and the City Council of Birmingham tore down English flags that had been hung in the streets. The symbolism is clear there too. In Tower Hamlets, Bangladeshis outnumber indigenous (white) British, and the non-English reportedly dominate government-subsidized housing.
Birmingham, a town in the middle of England, was 99.6% indigenous in 1951, but a decade ago, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2755654/The-changing-face-Britain-A-child-Birmingham-likely-Muslim-Christian.html">reported</a> that “a child in Birmingham is now more likely to be a Muslim than Christian.” Since then, the country has seen mass migration from countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Somalia. Today, indigenous British in Birmingham are under 50%.
The U.K.’s left-wing national broadcaster, the BBC, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx271162ee3o">hints</a> that anyone raising the English or British flags must be a right-wing extremist. The left-wing newspaper the Guardian predictably <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/20/row-grows-over-motives-behind-england-flag-campaign-far-right-racist">claims</a> that putting up English and British flags &#8220;may offer cover for far-right agendas.&#8221; By “far-right,” they include opposition to mass migration, concern about increased sexual violence against girls and women, and fear of cultural disintegration.
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Opposing mass migration is now an ineffable political position in the left-wing dominated academia, civil service, and media. But it is perfectly understandable and legitimate reaction to enormous demographic change across the Western world.
If current policies and trends continue, that change will make indigenous British a minority in their land within a few generations. Other countries like France and Germany are not far behind. This fate is not inevitable, it is a choice. It will only happen if the people accept it and elect governments accordingly. Putting out more flags perhaps signals that they won’t.
* * *
Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center and the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Woke-Commandments-Must-Obey/dp/1680533614">&#8220;The Ten Woke Commandments (You Must Not Obey)&#8221;</a> from Academica Books.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

More Than 50,000 Migrants Have Crossed The Channel To The UK Since Labour Came To Power

The Unspeakable Truth About Mass Migration

Australia

Canada

Europe

Heritage Foundation

Immigration

mass migration

Muslims

United States

In a viral video from Dundee, Scotland, three schoolgirls stand on a hilltop. One clutches a knife and a hatchet, brandishing them toward an advancing man. Another shields a third girl in a pink sweatshirt, her voice breaking as she cries: “Don’t touch my sister, she’s twelve!”
It is a moment that distills civilizational decline. In that scream lies the sound of failure — the burden of defense shifted from the strong to the small, from institutions to children. Collapse rarely announces itself with flames and rubble; more often, it creeps in through abdication. 
The state’s first response was not to <a href="https://redstate.com/streiff/2025/08/26/fourteen-year-old-scottish-girl-arrested-for-resisting-probable-assault-by-migrants-n2193258">confront the predator, but to charge the girl</a> for holding a weapon to defend herself and her sister.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="009a UK Child Defends Self" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nJC8ZNNvgko?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Credit: @Basil_TGMD/X.com. UK Child Defends Self.
This is the inversion of justice that defines too much of Western life today: The fear of offending a racial and religious minority outweighs the fear of harming innocent civilians, including and especially young girls and women. “Tolerance” is stretched to excuse the intolerable, and girls are left to bear the costs of the public class’s cowardice. The impulse to confront evil has been hollowed out, replaced by the reflex to punish those who resist it or even name it.
The forthcoming “Women and the West” report, which I authored for Independent Women, reckons with this reality. It documents how Western societies practice what scholars call “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NknDCkgdENQ">suicidal empathy</a>” — the refusal to confront illiberal practices, even when they imperil women. It is why <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/16/grooming-gangs-in-uk-thrived-in-culture-of-ignorance-casey-report-says">British authorities ignored grooming gangs</a> that preyed on thousands of girls, because the men were Pakistani Muslims and the girls were largely white. It is why Sweden, once among the safest nations on earth, now faces <a href="https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/sweden-immigrants-crisis/">epidemic levels of sexual violence</a>. Why a Dundee schoolgirl is treated as a criminal while her desperate cry — “She’s twelve!” — is brushed aside.
But the tragedy extends beyond abandoned girls. It is also about men stripped of their civilizational role as protectors. Where were the men in Dundee? Where were the men in Rottingham and in the other cities across the UK while their daughters were being raped? We know the legal system bears the brunt of the blame: Those who act are punished. In the UK, even those who speak out about what happens risk jail.
America knows this story too: <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/the-interrogation-of-daniel-penny">Daniel Penny,</a> a Marine veteran, intervened on a New York subway to restrain a violent man threatening passengers. For protecting strangers, he was not honored but indicted. The message on both sides of the Atlantic is too often: step forward, risk prison; stay silent, stay safe. But safety purchased by silence comes at the cost of culture itself. A society that criminalizes protectors breeds passive men and terrified women. Ultimately Americans rallied around Daniel Penny. Our commitment to free speech and to the sacred concept of the right to self-defense trumped our tendency for suicidal empathy. Will the UK rally around this brave girl in Scotland? 
The fate of women has always been the measure of a civilization’s strength. Where law is upheld and courage honored, women thrive. Where cowardice reigns and defenders are vilified, women and girls suffer first and most. From Kabul to Cologne to Dundee, the pattern holds.
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True liberalism never meant limitless tolerance. It meant ordered liberty: borders that protect sovereignty, cultures bound by shared norms, and institutions willing to enforce justice without apology. Instead, in the name of inclusivity, we deny reality, manipulate statistics, silence dissent, and prosecute children while excusing the predators who terrify them.
A frightened girl’s cry — “She’s twelve!” — is not just a viral clip. It is a warning. We have reached a point where the natural defenders of civilization — its men — are absent or penalized, and where its most vulnerable — its girls — are forced to take up arms in their stead.
Strength sustains freedom. Freedom safeguards women. If the West cannot recover the will to defend its daughters and honor its sons who rise to protect, then our undoing will not come by invasion from without but surrender from within.
* * *
Meaghan Mobbs, PhD, is the Director of the Center for American Safety and Security at Independent Women. She is the President of the R.T. Weatherman Foundation, a private operating foundation, providing humanitarian support in Ukraine. She is a presidential appointee to the Board of Visitors at the United States Military Academy at West Point and a gubernatorial appointee to Board of Visitors at the Virginia Military Academy.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Dundee city at sunrise

‘She’s Twelve!’: Scottish Girls Left To Defend Themselves In Viral Video

'She’s Twelve!': Scottish Girls Left To Defend Themselves In Viral Video

Immigrants

Scotland

Social Media

Teenagers

Violent Crime

Around a decade ago, when viral videos were just starting to become commonplace, a woman uploaded a video entitled, &#8220;10 hours of walking in NYC as a woman.&#8221; Like many viral videos, it wasn&#8217;t actually as spontaneous as it looked. It was the brainchild of an anti-harassment organization by the name of &#8220;Hollaback!&#8221; along with an ad agency called Rob Bliss Creative.
The premise, as the name of the video implies, is that a young white woman named Shoshana Roberts would walk around New York — &#8220;all areas of Manhattan,&#8221; they said — wearing jeans and a crewneck. She wouldn&#8217;t say anything to anyone. In front of her, someone would be carrying a hidden camera, which would capture all of the misogynistic men who would inevitably catcall her. It was intended to be feminist propaganda, in other words. You might remember the video, but if not, here&#8217;s some of it. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b1XGPvbWn0A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Credit: Rob Bliss/YouTube.com
According to the caption on the video, to her horror, this woman was catcalled more than 100 times in just 10 hours. And after releasing this piece of groundbreaking investigative journalism, the feminists who created it were convinced that they had a winner on their hands. It was being shared everywhere. People were horrified by the plight of women in New York City.
But very quickly, the mood changed. Leftists noticed that, inconveniently enough, pretty much every single catcaller in the video was black or Hispanic. There was one white guy who said something like &#8220;Nice,&#8221; although it wasn&#8217;t even clear he was talking to her. In any event, he&#8217;s clearly respectful and keeps things moving. He simply compliments her and continues walking.
By contrast, there were dozens of black and Hispanic catcallers in the video. And they went far beyond saying &#8220;nice.&#8221; One black guy follows her down the street for five minutes, staring at her the entire time. Another &#8220;person of color&#8221; tells her to &#8220;say thank you more.&#8221; Another guy says &#8220;God bless you, Mami.&#8221;
And you know what this means. The video was determined to be highly racist. NPR and Slate, among many other Left-wing publications, ran lengthy pieces on how problematic the video was. The author Roxane Gay, for example, wrote: &#8220;The racial politics of the video are [f*****] up.
Like, she didn&#8217;t walk through any white neighborhoods?&#8221; Never mind the fact that she walked all over Manhattan, which the footage clearly shows.
As the hysteria grew, the organization that produced the video released a groveling (and very confusing) statement of apology, which threw their <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/11/01/360422087/hollaback-video-calls-out-catcallers-but-cuts-out-white-men">own video</a> under the bus: 
<blockquote>We regret the unintended racial bias in the editing of the video that over represents men of color. &#8230; We are committed to showing the complete picture. It is our hope and intention that this video will be the start of a series to demonstrate that the type of harassment we&#8217;re concerned about is directed toward women of all races and ethnicities and conducted by an equally diverse population of men.</blockquote>
On Reddit, the ad agency <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/11/01/360422087/hollaback-video-calls-out-catcallers-but-cuts-out-white-men">added</a>: 
<blockquote>We got a fair amount of white guys, but for whatever reason, a lot of what they said was in passing, or off camera.</blockquote>
Obviously, one of the biggest issues with this claim is that everything in the video was said &#8220;in passing, or off camera.&#8221; So it doesn&#8217;t make sense to claim that the white people were &#8220;edited out&#8221; for that reason. Nor does it make any sense to state that, in the future, they&#8217;ll be committed to demonstrating that catcallers come from a, &#8220;equally diverse population of men.&#8221; After all, they just captured video evidence demonstrating, via a recorded experiment, that catcallers are not in fact diverse. So what&#8217;s the basis for saying that, in the future, they&#8217;ll prove that white people are just as likely to catcall women?
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1641-the-matt-walsh-show?contentProgram=The%20Matt%20Walsh%20Show&amp;contentType=ShowEpisode&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;location=Home%20Tab&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Home%20Featured%20Carousel">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
They don&#8217;t have any basis for saying that, of course, because it&#8217;s not true. Catcalling women to the point that they become uncomfortable — sort of like playing music loudly on a Bluetooth speaker at the park, or committing armed robbery — is one of those behaviors that, from a statistical perspective, simply isn&#8217;t perfectly distributed among various ethnic groups. Even if you tried to stack the deck by conducting this experiment in a neighborhood that’s nearly 100% white, it still wouldn’t work. In fact, that would only prove the opposite conclusion, because we all know that a woman can walk through a predominantly white suburb not just for 10 hours but for 10 years and never get catcalled at all.
That was the real lesson of &#8220;10 hours of walking in NYC as a woman,&#8221; even though the ad agency would never admit it. They proved, rather publicly, that different demographic groups engage in catcalling at very different rates. And so, ever since the publication of this video, in the name of racial justice, Leftists have mostly stopped talking about catcalling. They&#8217;ve left the topic alone.
But as we all know, every lesson of history must be re-learned at some point. It&#8217;s sort of like the old maxim, &#8220;Never fight a land war in Asia.&#8221; Everyone agrees it&#8217;s a bad idea. But eventually, someone else tries again, to disastrous results. And indeed, that&#8217;s the case with catcalling. Once again, Leftists are trying to make a big deal out of it. Specifically, in England, the Surrey Police Department recently sent undercover policewomen out on the streets, in jogging clothes, in an attempt to elicit catcalls. And then, when the policewomen were catcalled, back-up cars swoop in, sort of like a drug bust. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="How these joggers are tackling catcalling | LBC" width="422" height="750" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CbcXB4jY_g4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Credit: @LBCOfficial/YouTube.com
Well, they&#8217;ve convinced me. This policewoman is constantly being told by strangers that she&#8217;s attractive. And that&#8217;s a horrible, horrible thing. It&#8217;s hard to imagine anything worse than receiving unsolicited compliments, frankly. And indeed, you can just see the abject pain and horror in her voice as she&#8217;s having to process all of this. Last week I upset some people by suggesting that female cops shouldn’t be out on patrol because they lack the strength and other attributes necessary for that job. But I guess I should revise my statement. This is one job — walking around and fishing for compliments — that female cops are highly suited for.
It’s enough to make you wonder what would happen if some police officers are assigned to this detail, and they get no cat calls whatsoever. Would they be giving interviews about how happy they are about the fact that no one in the entire city, during their 8-hour shift, bothered to compliment them? Is that the conversation that would take place, back at the station? It seems doubtful, but at this point, we can&#8217;t say.
In any event, in the video, they admit that catcalling isn&#8217;t even criminal, which raises the obvious question of why the police are doing this. They explain that, in truth, they&#8217;re just trying to wag their finger at people who catcall, because catcalling is like a gateway drug to more criminal activity. Apparently, people who catcall are more likely to commit murder, tax evasion, arson, and so on. But even if that&#8217;s true — and there&#8217;s not much evidence that it is — it still doesn&#8217;t come close to justifying a police stop. If the police are allowed to pull you over because you might commit a future crime, in their judgment, then you effectively have a police state. And of course, that&#8217;s exactly what the UK has become.
But as it turns out, contrary to what&#8217;s stated in that video, some people are indeed being arrested in the UK as part of this sting operation. 
The Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/12/undercover-officers-pose-as-joggers-to-stop-catcalling/">reports</a>: 
<blockquote>Surrey Police said the approach was designed to protect women and girls in public places. According to the force, the [operation], which lasted a month, led to 18 arrests for offences such as harassment, sexual assault, and theft.</blockquote>
The implication, I guess, is that they picked up people with outstanding warrants for assault and theft, since there&#8217;s no indication that these officers were actually attacked during their runs. But what&#8217;s notable about this report, and every other report like it, is that we don&#8217;t have any information about the identities of the offenders. They also don&#8217;t explain what conduct constitutes &#8220;harassment&#8221; exactly. Instead, they simply state that this was a one-month trial for a sting operation, which has now concluded. So there was more transparency from a viral video produced by feminists a decade ago in New York City, than the British police are willing to provide about their taxpayer-funded catcalling bust.
We can all draw the obvious conclusion here. It&#8217;s almost certain that this particular sting operation backfired, just like that viral video did. They came up with this plan in order to entrap heterosexual white men who shout compliments at attractive women. That&#8217;s the great crime that British police decided to spend their time on — something that isn&#8217;t even a crime at all. In fact, it&#8217;s not even morally objectionable in many cases. And yet, in their bid to criminalize heterosexuality and lock up white men for non-crimes, the British police probably realized, to their horror, that the worst and most aggressive catcallers — the real menaces of the catcalling community — were not white at all. And therefore, this operation will end, and it will never be resumed again.
That&#8217;s not really a guess. This is how things work in Britain. For many years, the British government concealed the systematic sexual abuse of children that was being committed, right out in the open, by foreign gangs in England and Wales. 
According to one recent <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clynyyqdnrdo">report</a>, prepared by UK government official Louise Casey: 
<blockquote>We found that the ethnicity of perpetrators is shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators. &#8230; We found many examples of organisations avoiding the topic altogether for fear of appearing racist, raising community tensions or causing community cohesion problems.</blockquote>
With the protection of the government, so-called &#8220;grooming gangs&#8221; have operated with impunity in the UK. The normal tactic that these gangs used, as Casey&#8217;s report notes, was for men to target vulnerable adolescent children — &#8220;often those in care, or children with learning or physical disabilities.&#8221; Those children were then drugged, passed among various men and transported via taxis throughout the country to other clients.
The total number of victims is unknown, because most of these perpetrators have never been caught. But a recent <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2r2ejlvm1o">estimate</a> suggests that a minimum of 700 children were victims of &#8220;group-based child sexual exploitation&#8221; in the UK in 2023 alone. Roughly <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9y0lvpyqvo">1,400 children</a> were sexually abused by men in the UK town of Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. In several cases, the police also <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9y0lvpyqvo">participated</a> in the sexual assaults. They also made it clear that they were extremely uninterested when victims came forward. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="007 UK Grooming Gangs" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/82_vZrv78E8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
Credit: The Free Press/Honestly/YouTube.com
In response to the latest government report on this scandal, police in South Yorkshire <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9y0lvpyqvo">told the BBC</a> that they had, &#8220;a dedicated team of detectives working on this case who have worked diligently to explore all lines of enquiry.&#8221; That was their response just a few weeks ago, in July of this year So they&#8217;re claiming it&#8217;s a top priority for them. And yet, just a couple hours away in Surrey, the police are busy trying to arrest catcallers. They&#8217;re chasing down men who honk at women, even though there&#8217;s nothing criminal about it.
Not that we should really be surprised by this. Sociopathic sting operations, in the service of extremely dumb policies that happen to target native white citizens, are becoming the norm in police departments all over the country. In Canada, they&#8217;re <a href="https://x.com/JeffEvely/status/1953971918312251707">rounding</a> up people who try to hike in the woods, and handing out $30,000 fines. In Australia, as we <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5MA8S3ugXQ">discussed</a> a few months ago, they&#8217;ve essentially outlawed prayer. If you try to pray with a man who thinks he&#8217;s really a woman, or vice versa, you could face a decade&#8217;s worth of prison time. In fact, parents can&#8217;t even pray with their children, under that law.
There&#8217;s no way to make sense of any of these crackdowns without recognizing that the governments of the West harbor a deep and abiding disdain for the native populations of their respective countries. And these governments have realized that, if they can&#8217;t completely eliminate the police force and leave the population defenseless, then they can discredit the police, at the very least. They can turn law enforcement into laughing stock and eliminate its legitimacy that way. It&#8217;s the same reason the police chief in D.C. can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-insanely-incompetent-dei-hire-running-one-of-americas-most-dangerous-cities?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Matt+Walsh&amp;category=Opinion&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=The+Insanely+Incompetent+DEI+Hire+Running+One+Of+America%E2%80%99s+Most+Dangerous+Cities">barely understand</a> English. In other words, the latest war on policing, incredibly enough, is one that the police themselves are participating in. Police departments can either realize what&#8217;s going on, and refuse to participate in the charade. Or they can continue to contribute to their downfall, one extremely ill-advised sting operation at a time.

As Migrants Terrorize Britain, Police Wage War On Catcalls

Child Sex Abuse

Rape

A <a href="https://isc.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Intelligence-and-Security-Committee-of-Parliament-Iran.pdf">report</a> from Great Britain’s Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament stated clearly that they saw Iran as a “significant threat to the UK.”
“The Iran threat should not be underestimated: it is persistent and  — crucially  — unpredictable,” the report — which was completed before the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israelis and subsequent events occurred — declared. “Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity, which means it poses a dynamic and erratic threat. &#8230; it can escalate action sharply with little warning. This was seen following the 2022 protests in Iran, when there was a significant increase in the threat of a physical attack to individuals in the UK and the Middle East whom Iran perceives to be a threat to the regime.”
“Iran often operates through proxy groups — including criminal networks, militant and terrorist organizations, and private cyber actors. This provides it with a deniable means of attacking its adversaries with minimal risk of retaliation,” the report continued.
“The threat to the opponents of the Iranian regime residing in the UK is the greatest level of threat we currently face from Iran.’ It is on a broadly comparable level to that posed by Russia,” the report asserted. “Iran uses assassination as an instrument of state policy — targeting dissidents is a high priority for both the Ministry of Intelligence and Security and the IRGC.”
“Iran proceeding with its nuclear weapons programme represents a critical threat to the UK’s national security,” the report warned. “The Supreme Leader of Iran (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) wields tremendous power — he is the ultimate decision-maker, setting the direction of Iranian foreign and domestic policy. In terms of the threat posed by Iran to the UK and its interests, the Supreme Leader is therefore key.”
“Iran is there across the full spectrum of all the kinds of threats we have to be concerned with,” the committee chair, Kevan Jones, said.
“Last year, the head of Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5 said since January 2022, his service and British police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots to kidnap or kill British nationals or individuals based in the United Kingdom regarded by Tehran as a threat,” The Times of Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-poses-significant-threat-to-united-kingdom-british-lawmakers-say-in-new-report/">noted</a>. “In May, UK police<a style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-arrested-iranian-nationals-were-planning-attack-on-israeli-embassy-in-london/"> arrested</a> eight Iranian men who were reportedly suspected of plotting to attack the Israeli Embassy in London.”

Daily Life And Economy In London

British Parliament: Iran Poses ‘Significant Threat To The UK’

Iran

There is something chilling about watching Angel Studios’ documentary “Live Not By Lies!” 
It is not merely a recounting of history, though it does that with remarkable clarity — testimonies of men and women who survived totalitarian communism in Eastern Europe echo across the decades with a resonance we ignore at our peril. 
What is most unsettling about the adaptation of Rod Dreher’s bestselling work, however, is the gnawing realization that their warnings have already become our reality.
The film introduces us to brave Christians who, under Soviet rule, faced surveillance, intimidation, and prison — simply for refusing to pretend that evil was good. As they share their stories, one can’t help but feel the familiarity of it all: the demand to affirm ideologies we know to be false, the punishment for dissent, the slow corrosion of the conscience. The question is no longer “Could it happen here?” but “How far has it already gone?”
The same dynamic Dreher exposes—state and cultural forces colluding to crush dissent — is alive in the contemporary West.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Live Not By Lies | Official Trailer | Streaming April 1 | Angel Studios" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lJh8wJKAnm8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Consider Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a woman who was arrested not for vandalizing property or committing acts of violence, but for the silent crime of praying in her head near an abortion facility in Birmingham, England. No slogans, no placards — only the private communion of her thoughts with God. She was questioned by police, searched, charged, and brought before a court. She was found innocent – but promptly arrested again weeks later for the very same thoughts in the very same place. Thankfully, after a long and grueling investigation, Isabel won compensation from the police with support from ADF International.
Then there’s Adam Smith-Connor, an army veteran who stood silently and imperceptibly in prayer near another facility in Bournemouth in memory of his lost son. He too was interrogated by police and criminalized for the contents of his conscience – worse, leading to a conviction and a criminal charge. Adam was ordered to pay £9,000 to the court – amounting to perhaps the most expensive three minute prayer in history.
<div id="attachment_624329" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-624329" class="size-large wp-image-624329" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-1024x574.png" alt="Credit: Alliance Defending Freedom." width="1024" height="574" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-1024x574.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-300x168.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-768x431.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-1536x861.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-22-at-12.25.15-PM-2048x1148.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Alliance Defending Freedom.</div>
These cases are the canaries in the coal mine. They warn us of what happens when the state arrogates to itself the power to police interior conviction. In the novel “1984,” George Orwell called this “thoughtcrime.” Today in Britain, it is called a “buffer zone,” but the principle is identical: certain beliefs must not merely be suppressed — they must be eradicated from the public square.
“Live Not By Lies!” is a clarion call to rediscover moral courage. Dreher draws on the legacy of Vaclav Havel, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and countless ordinary Christians who refused to live by the lie. They were forced to pretend that the Party was infallible, that Marxism was inevitable, that the State was God. Today, our cultural commissars demand our allegiance to a different set of dogmas — that biological sex is a construct, that unborn life is disposable, that faith belongs behind closed doors and never in public life. But the impulse is the same: bow, or be broken.
The documentary is a reminder that resistance begins not with grand gestures, but with the refusal to speak untruth. When the authorities came to interrogate believers in Prague, they demanded not only compliance but confession: “Say that you agree. Say that you believe.” Many would not. For this, they lost jobs, were blacklisted, even imprisoned. Yet their refusal to say what they did not believe was the seed from which freedom eventually grew.
<div id="attachment_943085" style="width: 417px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.angel.com/watch/live-not-by-lies"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-943085" class="size-large wp-image-943085" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-407x576.jpg" alt="Angel Studios" width="407" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-407x576.jpg 407w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-212x300.jpg 212w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-1448x2048.jpg 1448w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-04-Jul-2025-12-53-PM-1283-scaled.jpg 1810w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px" /></a>Angel Studios</div>
How many today are willing to pay that price? We like to imagine ourselves as different — more sophisticated, more democratic, more tolerant. But the evidence mounts that our culture is simply addicted to a softer form of totalism: enforced conformity through the threat of professional ruin, reputational assassination, or — if you dare to pray silently — criminal prosecution.
There is no more potent illustration of this drift than the prosecutions of Vaughan-Spruce and Smith-Connor. In each case, the state claimed to be protecting “vulnerable women,” yet no evidence was presented that these individuals harassed or intimidated anyone. The real issue was that their mere presence — and their silent prayers — expressed a conviction the state deems intolerable. The Soviets called it “anti-Soviet agitation.” We call it “interference.” In both cases, the thought itself is the crime.
Some will say these comparisons are overwrought. They are not. For the Christian who believes God is Lord of both conscience and public life, there is no partition between belief and expression. The attempt to criminalize that wholeness — to tell a person they may think but not manifest their convictions — is precisely what totalitarian systems have always done. Dreher’s work, and this film, make clear that it begins with a creeping fear to speak, and ends with a culture that cannot remember how.
If we are to resist, we must start by telling the truth. No law should compel a citizen to lie — whether about the humanity of the unborn, the nature of marriage, or the sanctity of prayer. And no government has authority over the secret dialogue of the soul with its Creator. To surrender this is to surrender everything.
* * *
Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) is a Scottish commentator and Senior Legal Communications Officer for Alliance Defending Freedom UK.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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‘Live Not By Lies’: A Documentary Whose Warnings We Dare Not Ignore

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We are not solving our deficit problem.
You can see what&#8217;s going to happen to the United States down the line, because no one takes this problem seriously. Most Republicans don&#8217;t. Most Democrats don&#8217;t. The American people certainly do not. 
All you have to do is take a look across the ocean at Great Britain. On Wednesday, there was a shocking and fraught moment that happened there. The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/uk/britains-chancellor-in-tears-as-investors-turn-on-government-22aee17f?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAjZpkxEZH_qTxXcl-zvbi7np_J3qYRtV5gD99cAFFKx9W04z7JDoMWZ-xkzK3w%3D&amp;gaa_ts=6866caec&amp;gaa_sig=0k3E5u5VSkXj7mYSs0Q3EQLJqtEknleCqra4ptlRa79N59RLrBTHOVLmsAPH4A3zsL6rpF65FSo9B8cDPH9nDA%3D%3D">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Investors sold off British government bonds and the pound fell sharply on Wednesday after the Labour government abandoned plans to cut ballooning welfare costs and the country’s Chancellor of the Exchequer was seen crying in parliament. The selloff came hours after the government of Prime Minister <a href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/keir-starmer">Keir Starmer</a> shelved a plan to cut disability payments following a rebellion by Labour’s own lawmakers. 
The U-turn raised the prospect of the government hiking taxes or issuing more debt to fund its welfare system. It also casts doubt over the future of Rachel Reeves, the U.K. chancellor, who took the job just over a year ago promising a return to economic stability in Britain by<a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp500-nasdaq-live-01-23-2025/card/u-k-will-stick-to-fiscal-rules-reeves-tells-wsj-lyApDGigeve1oDWxyzwP?mod=article_inline"> sticking to strict spending rules. </a> The pound sank in value, losing more than 1% to trade at $1.36. U.K. government bonds, too, tumbled in price, sending the yield on 10-year gilts up 0.12 percentage point to 4.581%. That far outpaced the more muted gains for yields in the U.S. and in other major markets. 
“Markets have latched onto the idea that Reeves’s departure might be much more imminent,” said Mark Dowding, chief investment officer for fixed income at RBC BlueBay Asset Management. “That is unsettling investors in terms of what that means of the Labour government’s commitment to the fiscal framework.” </blockquote>
Of course, the Labour Party didn&#8217;t have any commitment to the fiscal framework; they are a far-Left party. They were never going to be fiscally responsible.  
This is demonstrative of a crisis that is eventually going to face every Western government, including the government of the United States. “The government’s climbdown points to a broader truth for governments across Western Europe, where weak economic growth means countries are struggling to raise enough revenue to pay for rising costs from an aging population, the Journal stated “With voters largely wary of spending cuts, that leaves higher taxes, which could hurt growth further, as the most likely outcome.”
“Britain is already on course to register the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/uk/britains-labour-party-bets-on-big-taxes-borrowing-to-boost-economy-5d3eba82?mod=article_inline">highest tax burden</a> since World War II thanks to big spending during the pandemic and paying out for energy subsidies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile its growth prospects remain meager,” the Journal noted.
If you look into the future for the United States, this sort of thing could happen here, too. The United States is demographically growing only because of immigration.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2231?elementPosition=5&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The reality is that the fertility rate in the United States is actually below replacement levels, at 1.66 births per woman. The United States is not replacing its own population. The only way we are able to do that is through large-scale immigration, which we have stopped, which means we have a shrinking tax base, an aging population, just like Western Europe, slower but similar.
We also have the possibility of serious economic stagnation, absent a massive breakthrough in AI that suddenly translates into higher productivity.
If all of that materializes and we don&#8217;t cut any of the massive welfare state that we have built, we are going to end up inflating our way out of this. That&#8217;s the reality. As I&#8217;ve said myriad times, there are only three solutions to massive debt: inflation, massive tax increases, or austerity. Our population is so used to its benefits that they do not want austerity.
But eventually, the West is going to have to grow up and recognize that the welfare state has costs attendant upon it. And those costs are going to have to be paid for by someone; they can&#8217;t be kicked down the road indefinitely. You can&#8217;t just magically manufacture money and hope the economy is going to continue to sail forward.
So, what does the United States need? It needs massive economic growth, and eventually it&#8217;s going to need some real cuts to the size and scope of government.
The kind of cuts in the Big, Beautiful Bill are not going to do it. They need to be a lot larger than that.
I know that&#8217;s an unpopular view. It also happens to be an economically sane view that very few people in politics are willing to take because most people don&#8217;t want to hear it.
But we must be willing to listen to reality, even if it’s painful, for one reason, and one reason alone: In the end, reality always wins.

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This September, Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro will release “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1">Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics)</a>,” his first book in four years. Shapiro calls it, “My most important book, certainly my most passionate.”
In the wake of the horrific attacks on innocent Israelis on October 7, 2023, Shapiro was left shocked, not only by the barbaric acts of the terrorist group Hamas, but by the strange, disturbing response he witnessed from those in the West.
“Something deeply wrong had happened in the West,” says Shapiro. 
The host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” then spent the next year traveling the globe, visiting Auschwitz alongside Elon Musk, flying to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to meet with newly elected president Javier Milei, and speaking at Oxford University in England. It was what he saw on the streets of London that affected him most.
“Just last weekend, London saw a massive river of protesters,” writes Shapiro. “Hundreds of thousands strong, marching with their banners unfurled: the banners of terrorist groups and of communists and of transgender activists, gathered together to revolt against the civilization that has given them their rights and their prosperity and their power.”
“Lions and Scavengers” will release on September 2, 2025, and is published by Threshold Editions, the conservative publishing imprint of Simon &amp; Schuster, an imprint originally launched by Mary Matalin, the conservative wife of Democratic talking head James Carville.
The Harvard Law graduate&#8217;s new book is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1">now available for pre-order</a>. 
Not only that, customers can also order <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/lions-and-scavengers">AUTOGRAPHED copies of &#8220;Lions and Scavengers&#8221; now exclusively at the Daily Wire Shop</a>!
<div id="attachment_929955" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-929955" class="wp-image-929955 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-384x576.jpg" alt="Cover Art: Threshold Editions/Simon &amp; Schuster" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/MixCollage-05-Jun-2025-01-46-PM-2807-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a>Cover Art: Threshold Editions/Simon &amp; Schuster</div>
As leftist leaders continue to obfuscate the threats to Western civilization, Shapiro’s book could not have arrived at a better time.
Some say the West is experiencing 1930s Germany all over again, and Shapiro confirms that a new form of “Scavenger” is on the prowl. “The Scavengers have gathered, here in the beating heart of what was once the center of Western civilization, to bay for more blood, and to scream at a West that insists that defense against terror is the first right of all men.”
Shapiro also insists this is larger than the persecution of the Jews. “This is not mere anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is an age-old hatred rooted in a conspiracy theory; it takes many forms and has countless victims. This is something different. It is a united, coalitional hatred of the West.”
As a proven author with multiple #1 New York Times bestselling titles to his credit and as the host of one of the most widely listened-to podcasts, Shapiro has earned the authority to speak on this topic in this critical hour of world history.
While Shapiro’s “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Scavengers-Story-America-Critics/dp/1668097885/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pg18nHlVX2neyh7VlgVdIKje9EBKlWHDPzfz2hz6y3Q3oyWp8Jv4YdfQyesgs3y-.a1CzqX5hmYc9zIJ3x9S3IyReflqRxvFeP5akr1dlPB8&amp;qid=1749148351&amp;sr=1-1">Lions and Scavengers</a>” will illuminate the gathering storm facing the leaders of the West, his message, however, is not only for adults. &#8220;We need to be a civilization of Lions. We need to teach our children to be Lions, and to fight the Scavengers.&#8221;
Be prepared for the days ahead — reserve your copy of “Lions and Scavengers” now.

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Ben Shapiro Announces Release Of ‘Lions And Scavengers,’ His ‘Most Important Book’

Ben Shapiro Announces Release Of His 'Most Important Book'

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There is a philosophy that has now become dominant on the Left and even parts of the center. It&#8217;s throughout the West.
The deeper roots of this philosophy bear a deadly fruit.
Let’s begin with a bizarre and hilarious spectacle. Great Britain’s King Charles III was visiting the Canadian Parliament and decided that it would be worthwhile to offer a land acknowledgment.
This is hilarious because King Charles is the King of Great Britain. The only reason the Canadian Parliament exists is because of the settlement of Canada by British citizens. That’s why he is there in the first place.
Charles doing a land acknowledgment and taking that seriously would amount to essentially disestablishing Canada, the United States, Australia, South Africa and a bunch of other countries, because all of those countries were originally created as functioning polities by the British Empire.
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This bizarre idea that Charles can arrive on Canadian territory and start apologizing to the indigenous people for the presence of white people in this particular area is absurd, especially coming from King Charles, who is the greatest beneficiary on planet Earth of the imperialism of the British Empire.
There are human universals, such as migration, settlement, annexation, and conflict, and they are not unique to white people, Westerners, or Europeans; it&#8217;s just that white people, Westerners and Europeans, have been much better at it than other parts of the population on planet Earth. They&#8217;re more successful, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, but that does not mean that there is some unique sin that attends to whiteness, being Western, or being European.
Charles said, “I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. This land acknowledgement is a recognition of shared history as a nation. While continuing to deepen my own understanding, it is my great hope that in each of your communities, and collectively as a country, a path is found toward truth and reconciliation, in both word and deed.”
Of course the land is unceded, because the nature of human conflict is that when people migrate from one part of the Earth to another part of the Earth, conflict tends to arise, and then someone wins and someone loses. And it is a very good thing that the British Empire won in Canada.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2208-the-trump-2026-victory-plan?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Here’s the basic idea: The world is better off because of the British Empire. The world is better off because of American power and the spread of European ideals. That is obviously true. The spread of things like property rights, due process of law, capitalism, freedom of religion, all of which are not human universals — those are the legacy of the West.
There&#8217;s always an attempt to take human universals and then project them as West-specific problems. That is not true.
The problems of murder and raping and looting and slavery are human universals.
What is unique about the West is all the other stuff. Reversing that polarity and suggesting that the West is somehow uniquely sinful because it was better at war than others, or because Westerners were better at settlement than the Algonquin who lived on the land where Canada&#8217;s parliament now sits, and that is a human tragedy, is not, in fact, a human tragedy.
Bad things happen throughout human history. The bad things are tragedies. But overall, in the broad scope of history, it is an absolutely wonderful thing that Europeans ended up on the North American continent.
Anyone who doesn&#8217;t believe so should probably leave. If you don&#8217;t believe that, you probably should go back to your dingy apartment and cede it back to the natives from whom your ancestors took it.
All of this ties into a deeper and more deadly philosophy.
The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, visited the White House and was asked about the “Kill the Boer” chant, which has become common at some rallies, targeting the Afrikaner farmers who originally settled in the area of South Africa as early as the 17th century, fought for hundreds of years, and were responsible at one point for tremendous racism against black people.
But the solution to that is not genocidal chants. Yet there’s an idea that as long as the people who are shouting the genocidal chants are not white, European and Western, it suddenly becomes okay.
Why? Because the rules don&#8217;t equally apply in this left-wing philosophy, where the sins of the West are unique and the West is unique in its evil.
What that means is that the West has to be destroyed. This has deadly consequences. And it doesn&#8217;t matter whether you call this stuff anti-white or anti-Semitic or anti-whatever. The problem with this generalized philosophy is that it is simply evil.
When you separate the world into victims and victimizers and you suggest that anyone who&#8217;s been uniquely successful is the victimizer and anyone who is not is a victim, what you get is victimizers with the moral impetus and the moral weight to kill people.
What you end up with is actual terrorism, actual violence, actual overthrow of the institutions that made the West great in the first place.

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