You capture my reaction exactly. But what concerns me most is the all-pervasive sense of hate, which is being both generated and stoked by those who want to create a weapon and point it at a target. Hate does not make for a healthy society.
Hi Lewis, I was on water street at the time and thought the same thing. People on the street even before any push notifications were out, the police formed a blockage and pushing the crowds back to create a cordon, people were shoving the police accusing them of protecting the perpetrator, ‘we know who’s done it, we all know, stop protecting him’, it was almost scarier with the aftermath and confrontation with the police, than the thought of the incident overall.
I was in James St. and we were oblivious. The phone networks were swamped. We queued at Central Station for 2 hours and only found out about the incident as our train left Birkenhead and then the messages from relatives, social media posts and news alerts came through. I think this network saturation helped to quash the speculation and avoid a panic or worse.
'when the push notification about Liverpool appeared on your phone' - I can assure like the vast majority of the country no 'push notification' appeared on my phone after the attack, as I have no interest in 24hr news being constantly pumped in my direction
Perhaps if we dropped our obsession with being informed right away about everything it will give time for the facts to emerge. Put down the phone people!!
Very interesting Lewis, thank you. I wonder what your view is of the Prime Minister essentially ducking the chance to discuss this issue when Chris Hope of GB News asked him whether the police will always announce ethnicity so quickly in future. You could almost here Hope salivating at future "why wont they tell us" headlines....
It is very sad that it has come to this but I understand their position which was between a rock and the deep blue sea… My worry is What should happen if there’s another incident of equally tragic human loss where the perpetrator is a Non- British person… ? and I include white foreigners in this melee for this hatred and suspicion is not only stoked by home grown politicians, specially magnified by Brexit, but also by the pernicious influence and choke hold that the USA has on the UK
It was the former Tory MP for Broxtowe, Anna Soubry I believe, who said these people “have tiny minds packed with hate.” A perfect description. These people have always existed as ‘thugs’ or ‘vandals’ but like the rest of us, they never had a voice. Social media has given us all a platform, the anti-social included, but the real problem is not online hate or even the so-called politicians who make use of it. The real issue is the continuing failure of traditional politicians, Anna Soubry excepted, to say what so many people replying to this and other Substacks are saying in frustration. We are on the cusp of losing our democracy to a system of control similar to that portrayed in the book and movie ‘V For Vendetta’ because they cannot or will not see what we can see; that they are weak and inadequate and these next few years will see the last of them. The far-right could even win with Farage in 2029 and nothing anyone in Westminster has said or seems capable of slowing them down.
'53 year old white British man,' Surely Elon Musk have something to say about this and tweet about . I mean 53 year old white man is really in Elon's wheel house he really should know what's going on here and in the heart of 50 something white men every where.
It needs stated by those of us who believe in Liberal Democracy & the rule of law that those who say that Islam is incompatible with Western Civilization are themselves incompatible with Western Civilization.
They don't want the law applied fairly to everyone.
They want it applied harshly to those they don't like & a blind eye turned to them when they break it.
No sweetie, it is incompatible with not only Western Civilization but all civilization. Once we start having women stoned to death by a mob, you will be cheering them on.
The Romans & Greeks left out babies they didn't want to die on rubbish heaps.
Usually girl babies.
It was Christians who rescued them.
Western Civilization has changed but has had some pretty bad practices in the past. Like slavery for instance.
You know that a load of the people objecting to immigrants & leading protests in the UK have been charged &/or convicted of domestic abuse, right? And that 6 of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’s close associates in the EDL were convicted of child abuse?
People of your opinion on immigrants have a finely honed hypocrisy.
You mightn’t want stoning of women but I bet you believe that they should be in their place & have posted #notallmen.
Thank you for demonstrating that your skull is impenetrable and contains a dangerously distorted view of reality. Your mostly non sequitur reply is a weak attempt at hiding the fact that you are trying to defend the indefensible.
We'll put you down as one who doesn't give a damn about the industrial-scale rape of tens-of-thousands of little white girls who apparently deserve such abuse because they are not muslim.
I hope you don't have any women or girls in your life.
PS My hunch is that you cheered when the police arrested that little Scottish girl who was defending her sister.
Remember, it doesn't matter where you are born or what colour of skin you are or what language you speak.
What matters is that we have repented of our sin, submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ & asked Him for forgiveness then endeavoured to following Him.
That includes loving our neighbours, all of them,as ourselves & loving our enemies.
From what a growing number of credible experts say, the UK is on the brink of a war with the invaders who have shown no signs of a willingness to adapt to their host’s ways and instead prefer to isolate themselves in enclaves, ghettoes, No-Go Zones, etc. They spit on your religion. In their minds, infidels must either eventually convert or die. Their women are to be abused.
I thank my lucky stars that I live thousands of miles away.
The silver lining to this is that outrage is building across Western Europe over the crime and social deterioration brought about by people who are only coming for the freebies provided by the white taxpayers.
Are you employed? Do you pay taxes? I doubt it since you don’t mind millions of illegals coming into the country and literally destroying the NHS and other social programs. Britain is no longer a rich country. It’s sinking and the last thing it needs is millions of hostile combat-aged males with nothing but contempt for the indigenous fools who provide them with luxury accommodations in upscale hotels, free meals, and spending money.
Sweden proved years ago that the strategy of saving an aging and declining society by importing millions of goatherders doesn’t work. That’s why Sweden is beginning to send them back.
Maybe your invaders will begin engaging in the grenade-tossing sport popular with their brothers in Malmo.
I agree with much of the previous comments. A very well-articulated article and one that makes me even more uneasy than before. We really do have a problem, and the spectre of the Southport riots will just not go away. The police know this and are in an impossible situation. It was the right call.
topic. It sometimes feels like the horse has bolted in terms of the impact “social media” is having on the ability of bad actors to shape the public discourse on issues like this, but pieces of witting like this give me hope!
Fear of others stoked by racial hatred isn't new to Britain and happened prior to Enoch Powell's speech about rivers of blood etc. There were anti Flemish riots in the 12th century fanned by jealousy of trading rights and anti Jewish pogroms,the 18th century Gordon riots were anti Catholic,
Irish people were accused of supporting IRA terrorism in the 1970's, and EU citizens, principally Poles,were abused during and after the Brexit vote.The history of this country is based upon hysteria whipped up by political opportunists. You make room for a marginal footnote about the left using race to attack the establishment but in the main this political activism fuelled by tabloid or social media tropes is inspired by the conservative or neo fascist right to distract the average voter.
You people are destroying not only your country, but civilization as well. I'd bet money that you blame the industrial-scale rape of tens-of-thousands of little white girls as the fault of white men. That is not the act of immigrants but of a hostile invading army. You braindead woke zombies will eventually be targeted too by these hostile interlopers. The tragedy is that you will take down a lot of good people with your insanity.
There's a huge difference between disliking someone over immutable characteristics and rejecting them over appalling behaviour well outside the norms of civilized society.
You and your mob are today's version of Stockholm Syndrome victims.
Every social media channel and even YouTube is now infected by right wing mendacity. Anyone desperate for attention or clicks is posting anything anti-Starmer or a clip of Farage. He is only this relevant given the sheer airtime and attention he gets from mainstream media. If they ignored him he wouldn’t be riding so high. Alas the media is so far right the balance is not there and the void is filled by populist idiocy. We will weep in the next five years over what we have allowed to happen.
You people are destroying not only your country, but civilization as well. I'd bet money that you blame the industrial-scale rape of tens-of-thousands of little white girls as the fault of white men. That is not the act of immigrants but of a hostile invading army. You braindead woke zombies will eventually be targeted too by these hostile interlopers. The tragedy is that you will take down a lot of good people with your insanity.
There's a huge difference between disliking someone over immutable characteristics and rejecting them over appalling behaviour well outside the norms of civilized society.
You and your mob are today's version of Stockholm Syndrome victims.
It's good that these details are released quickly to prevent misinformation filling the space, but one day an incident will come along where the perpetrator matches the far right's preferred profile perfectly. (For example, Ali Harbi Ali, the man who killed David Amess MP, fits this category pretty well.)
If the police informing the public of the suspect's whiteness is a declaration that Britain's ethnic minorities can stand down, then what does that say about the opposite announcement?
You capture my reaction exactly. But what concerns me most is the all-pervasive sense of hate, which is being both generated and stoked by those who want to create a weapon and point it at a target. Hate does not make for a healthy society.
Hi Lewis, I was on water street at the time and thought the same thing. People on the street even before any push notifications were out, the police formed a blockage and pushing the crowds back to create a cordon, people were shoving the police accusing them of protecting the perpetrator, ‘we know who’s done it, we all know, stop protecting him’, it was almost scarier with the aftermath and confrontation with the police, than the thought of the incident overall.
I was in James St. and we were oblivious. The phone networks were swamped. We queued at Central Station for 2 hours and only found out about the incident as our train left Birkenhead and then the messages from relatives, social media posts and news alerts came through. I think this network saturation helped to quash the speculation and avoid a panic or worse.
'when the push notification about Liverpool appeared on your phone' - I can assure like the vast majority of the country no 'push notification' appeared on my phone after the attack, as I have no interest in 24hr news being constantly pumped in my direction
Perhaps if we dropped our obsession with being informed right away about everything it will give time for the facts to emerge. Put down the phone people!!
Ok fair enough. But I can assure you millions and millions of people do.
Thank you …captured my feelings exactly. I feel like I’m grieving a British culture that’s changed beyond recognition…
Maybe we could pass a law that tax dodging, apharteid supporting genocidal maniacs should be designated terrorists 🤔
Hey.. if you don't want death threats, support Brexit... BJohnson.
Very interesting Lewis, thank you. I wonder what your view is of the Prime Minister essentially ducking the chance to discuss this issue when Chris Hope of GB News asked him whether the police will always announce ethnicity so quickly in future. You could almost here Hope salivating at future "why wont they tell us" headlines....
It is very sad that it has come to this but I understand their position which was between a rock and the deep blue sea… My worry is What should happen if there’s another incident of equally tragic human loss where the perpetrator is a Non- British person… ? and I include white foreigners in this melee for this hatred and suspicion is not only stoked by home grown politicians, specially magnified by Brexit, but also by the pernicious influence and choke hold that the USA has on the UK
It was the former Tory MP for Broxtowe, Anna Soubry I believe, who said these people “have tiny minds packed with hate.” A perfect description. These people have always existed as ‘thugs’ or ‘vandals’ but like the rest of us, they never had a voice. Social media has given us all a platform, the anti-social included, but the real problem is not online hate or even the so-called politicians who make use of it. The real issue is the continuing failure of traditional politicians, Anna Soubry excepted, to say what so many people replying to this and other Substacks are saying in frustration. We are on the cusp of losing our democracy to a system of control similar to that portrayed in the book and movie ‘V For Vendetta’ because they cannot or will not see what we can see; that they are weak and inadequate and these next few years will see the last of them. The far-right could even win with Farage in 2029 and nothing anyone in Westminster has said or seems capable of slowing them down.
'53 year old white British man,' Surely Elon Musk have something to say about this and tweet about . I mean 53 year old white man is really in Elon's wheel house he really should know what's going on here and in the heart of 50 something white men every where.
Thank you for demonstrating internalized racism and misandry towards oneself and all indigenous males.
Brilliant.
It needs stated by those of us who believe in Liberal Democracy & the rule of law that those who say that Islam is incompatible with Western Civilization are themselves incompatible with Western Civilization.
They don't want the law applied fairly to everyone.
They want it applied harshly to those they don't like & a blind eye turned to them when they break it.
No sweetie, it is incompatible with not only Western Civilization but all civilization. Once we start having women stoned to death by a mob, you will be cheering them on.
The Romans & Greeks left out babies they didn't want to die on rubbish heaps.
Usually girl babies.
It was Christians who rescued them.
Western Civilization has changed but has had some pretty bad practices in the past. Like slavery for instance.
You know that a load of the people objecting to immigrants & leading protests in the UK have been charged &/or convicted of domestic abuse, right? And that 6 of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’s close associates in the EDL were convicted of child abuse?
People of your opinion on immigrants have a finely honed hypocrisy.
You mightn’t want stoning of women but I bet you believe that they should be in their place & have posted #notallmen.
I suggest you take a look at this.
https://www.alilybit.com/p/the-wests-suicide-pact-with-a-death
Thank you for demonstrating that your skull is impenetrable and contains a dangerously distorted view of reality. Your mostly non sequitur reply is a weak attempt at hiding the fact that you are trying to defend the indefensible.
We'll put you down as one who doesn't give a damn about the industrial-scale rape of tens-of-thousands of little white girls who apparently deserve such abuse because they are not muslim.
I hope you don't have any women or girls in your life.
PS My hunch is that you cheered when the police arrested that little Scottish girl who was defending her sister.
You people are a disease.
No, wrong on all counts.
Remember, it doesn't matter where you are born or what colour of skin you are or what language you speak.
What matters is that we have repented of our sin, submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ & asked Him for forgiveness then endeavoured to following Him.
That includes loving our neighbours, all of them,as ourselves & loving our enemies.
From what a growing number of credible experts say, the UK is on the brink of a war with the invaders who have shown no signs of a willingness to adapt to their host’s ways and instead prefer to isolate themselves in enclaves, ghettoes, No-Go Zones, etc. They spit on your religion. In their minds, infidels must either eventually convert or die. Their women are to be abused.
I thank my lucky stars that I live thousands of miles away.
The silver lining to this is that outrage is building across Western Europe over the crime and social deterioration brought about by people who are only coming for the freebies provided by the white taxpayers.
Are you employed? Do you pay taxes? I doubt it since you don’t mind millions of illegals coming into the country and literally destroying the NHS and other social programs. Britain is no longer a rich country. It’s sinking and the last thing it needs is millions of hostile combat-aged males with nothing but contempt for the indigenous fools who provide them with luxury accommodations in upscale hotels, free meals, and spending money.
Sweden proved years ago that the strategy of saving an aging and declining society by importing millions of goatherders doesn’t work. That’s why Sweden is beginning to send them back.
Maybe your invaders will begin engaging in the grenade-tossing sport popular with their brothers in Malmo.
All the comments that you make are a load of dung!
I don't know what experts you are reading but they are probably paid by Putin to spread such manure.
You don't live in the UK.
I do & work & pay taxes here
My viewpoint is infinitely more valid than yours.
Unless of course you are one of Putin's lackeys yourself.
I agree with much of the previous comments. A very well-articulated article and one that makes me even more uneasy than before. We really do have a problem, and the spectre of the Southport riots will just not go away. The police know this and are in an impossible situation. It was the right call.
This is a brilliant piece of writing on a vital
topic. It sometimes feels like the horse has bolted in terms of the impact “social media” is having on the ability of bad actors to shape the public discourse on issues like this, but pieces of witting like this give me hope!
Fear of others stoked by racial hatred isn't new to Britain and happened prior to Enoch Powell's speech about rivers of blood etc. There were anti Flemish riots in the 12th century fanned by jealousy of trading rights and anti Jewish pogroms,the 18th century Gordon riots were anti Catholic,
Irish people were accused of supporting IRA terrorism in the 1970's, and EU citizens, principally Poles,were abused during and after the Brexit vote.The history of this country is based upon hysteria whipped up by political opportunists. You make room for a marginal footnote about the left using race to attack the establishment but in the main this political activism fuelled by tabloid or social media tropes is inspired by the conservative or neo fascist right to distract the average voter.
You people are destroying not only your country, but civilization as well. I'd bet money that you blame the industrial-scale rape of tens-of-thousands of little white girls as the fault of white men. That is not the act of immigrants but of a hostile invading army. You braindead woke zombies will eventually be targeted too by these hostile interlopers. The tragedy is that you will take down a lot of good people with your insanity.
There's a huge difference between disliking someone over immutable characteristics and rejecting them over appalling behaviour well outside the norms of civilized society.
You and your mob are today's version of Stockholm Syndrome victims.
Every social media channel and even YouTube is now infected by right wing mendacity. Anyone desperate for attention or clicks is posting anything anti-Starmer or a clip of Farage. He is only this relevant given the sheer airtime and attention he gets from mainstream media. If they ignored him he wouldn’t be riding so high. Alas the media is so far right the balance is not there and the void is filled by populist idiocy. We will weep in the next five years over what we have allowed to happen.
You people are destroying not only your country, but civilization as well. I'd bet money that you blame the industrial-scale rape of tens-of-thousands of little white girls as the fault of white men. That is not the act of immigrants but of a hostile invading army. You braindead woke zombies will eventually be targeted too by these hostile interlopers. The tragedy is that you will take down a lot of good people with your insanity.
There's a huge difference between disliking someone over immutable characteristics and rejecting them over appalling behaviour well outside the norms of civilized society.
You and your mob are today's version of Stockholm Syndrome victims.
It's good that these details are released quickly to prevent misinformation filling the space, but one day an incident will come along where the perpetrator matches the far right's preferred profile perfectly. (For example, Ali Harbi Ali, the man who killed David Amess MP, fits this category pretty well.)
If the police informing the public of the suspect's whiteness is a declaration that Britain's ethnic minorities can stand down, then what does that say about the opposite announcement?