It has been about a year and a half since I last visited London and from the news I have seen here in the States, I wanted to see what the mood in the city regarding their politics was, economy, immigration, etc. While having breakfast I was able to read several British papers and what particularly struck me were the first pages of The Daily Mail (12/19/2025), which has the highest circulation but is not considered to be on par with the Times of London (which is further to the Left in its reporting). So let me present three stories which I believe indicate where the U.K. is at currently:

1. Phillipson blocks safe spaces for women: Bridget Phillipson is the Women and Equalities Secretary (a position specifically aimed at protecting Women and bettering their lot).  In response to the recent decision by the High Court, she has released a statement that their recent ruling is “trans-exclusive” and refuses to release (enforce) them after the court ruling three months ago. The guideline was created after the British Supreme Court ruled that banned “transgender women-biological males-from women’s lavatories.  According to Ms. Phillipson, the court ruling would ban women from taking their infant sons into changing rooms and pools. She has already missed the deadline for presenting guidelines to Parliament. Apparently “woke” is alive and well in the U.K. and is defiance of the law of the land. Here is the woman who is charged with protecting women and she refuses to enforce the law which specifically protects women. Your government at work for your benefit?
2. British boys don’t need misogyny lessons-migrants do: The Labour government has decided that British school boys need to be taught about misogyny in response to a dramatic increase of violence against women. The goal is to reduce sexual violence by half within a decade.  The leader of the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch has said that “if you tell boys that they are the problem, you don’t create respect, you create resentment, you create backlash…”. The current effort by Labour seems to have been based on a BBC TV drama Adolescence which tells the story of a 13-year-old-boy who was arrested on suspicion of murdering a female classmate. Ms. Badenoch has urged the Labour government to publish data on the nationality and immigration status of sexual offenders, which the government has refused to do. It is interesting that the “sexual grooming” which has plagued the U.K. for more than ten years and resulted in tens of thousands of female victims was due to be discussed openly in Parliament, but at the last moment the Labour government cancelled the discussion as it might upset Pakistani voters. Your government at work, protecting it’s citizens?
3. The Cost of Welfare: Projections are that one in eight Brits will be claiming disability benefits by 2030, up from the current one in ten. At the same time, new guidelines mean that by 2030, four million Brits will be on disability with absolutely no need to look for work or prove their sickness continues. The government claims that they are working on reforms which will save about two billion pounds (about $2.7 billion) in the next four years (hardly a brilliant success). This “savings” is part of the total cost of over one-hundred-ninety billion currently.

Those three stories from one day’s news show a nation with major problems. OK, every country has its’ problems and, on the whole, the attitude in Mayfair and the money sections of the city was positive.  It was great seeing and feeling the power that some of the young Brits had as they hit the pubs after work.  They were positive and you could feel their excitement.  Fantastic! On the other hand, from the taxi drivers to bar tenders to some everyday Brits, there were more cautious comments, ranging from “we are broke” to” there is no money”, to complaints of their National Health Service (need a cancer consultation? You get a lottery ticket-not kidding- and then the NHS tells you when your consultation will be; one person got a phone consultation in thirteen months’ time). Then there is the underlying problem of the migrants.  A local council was upset as a local building was being refurbished to house five-hundred immigrants, which was more than lived in the village. That same day over five hundred immigrants were caught coming over from France. The immigrants are coming faster than the government can build houses for them, when there is a housing shortage already for native Brits.

I have to admit, I love the U.K. and I am aware of how much has changed over the thirty plus years that I have been visiting.  Gone are the carts selling fruits having been replaced by falafel stands.  And East London?  It is a different country all together, and only time will tell what will happen. London is no different than any U.S. city; it is still safe unless you wander into a section that you know if trouble. Added to this is the current policy under the Labour government of thought control such as arresting an individual for silently praying in a public space, or the seventy-year-old Grandmother who was arrested for criticizing the local government on Facebook.  There is a feeling of national malaise in the air and the current government is holding on with every tool at it’s disposal.

The changes are plain to see and like the rest of Western Europe, the British government is stuck in doing the same things which have failed, hoping for a different result. Fortunately, at least the government is not locking up or shutting out rival political parties as we have seen in the EU.  If the Brits continue down their current failing road, I believe there is little hope for national renewal. It is a shame, as there is so much good to see that that wonderful land.