
Politicians have their heads in the sand about immigration's irreversible damages
By 2100, the analysis predicts that three in five people will be non-white. Currently standing in the region of seven per cent, the Muslim proportion of the UK's population could increase to eleven percent by 2050 and as high as one-fifth of it by the 22 nd century.
The findings confirm that the UK is undergoing major ethnic and religious transformation. There is no doubt that large-scale inward migration, which in recent times reached unprecedented levels under the last Conservative government's post-Brexit liberalisation of immigration rules, is driving much of this population change.
Along with the size of the inflows, the pattern of migration to the UK has changed in the post-Brexit context. Prominent countries of origin associated with the so-called 'Boriswave' include India, Pakistan, and Nigeria. This brings risks from a social-cohesion perspective. India and Pakistan recently locked horns in a military escalation following the Pahalgam terror attack, which the former blamed the latter over.
While India has witnessed the fiery rise of Hindu fundamentalism under prime minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan is verging on being a failed state riddled with Islamist extremism. Nigeria is also no stranger to ethnic and religious conflict.
But it is the political and cultural dynamics within the UK's 'homegrown' Muslim population which pose the most serious challenges in terms of integration and identity.
Research published by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) found that seven in ten British Muslims identified with their religious identity first and foremost – with around a quarter identifying most strongly with their British/English national identity.
But younger, largely UK-born British Muslims are more likely to identify as 'Muslim first' than their predominantly foreign-born elders – peaking at 85 per cent for 18-to-24-year-olds.
What we are witnessing in the British Muslim population is the 'integration paradox' – as socially-conservative minorities become more socially integrated over generations, they are more exposed to cultural trends and mainstream political developments which may not be to their liking.
Whether it is the rapid secularisation of the mainstream or the perceived pro-Israelism of the British political establishment, the UK's relatively youthful and increasingly confident Muslim population is becoming more faith-centric in how they view their existence in modern Britain.
Of course, all of this leads us to what is taking place in the white-British ethnic group, which is on a consistently downward trajectory as a proportion of the UK's population. While one cannot underestimate the role of large-scale immigration in demographic change, neither can we overlook that major cultural changes in the mainstream are contributing towards it.
The reality is that certain ethnic and religious groups value marriage and parenthood more than others – to the point that they tend to be more willing to take a hit to their personal freedom and financial comfort for these goals. Marriage and parenthood are ultimately civic acts of self-sacrifice – one could be forgiven for believing that much of the white-British mainstream is simply not culturally or religiously inclined to take this on.
While England's rich traditions of personal freedom and individual liberty are to be admired, the 1960s social revolution and the rise of materialism put these values on steroids. Coupled with the considerable volume of inward migration of highly-religious kinship networks over decades, significant population change was, and is, inevitable.
Britain's demographic future is a declining and de-Christianising white-British population, an ever-growing Muslim population, and becoming a majority-nonwhite society. This is unlikely to be a seamless transition. It could give rise to a resurgent racial consciousness in the white-British ethnic group; two-tier governance and the unholy trinity of 'diversity, equality, and inclusion' will not help matters.
Meanwhile, British Muslim social and political disaffection – especially among its younger and more educated population – means the urge for Muslims to mobilise in line with 'group interests' will only grow.
One thing for certain: significant population changes in modern Britain are testing the UK's traditional reputation of being a successful multi-ethnic, religiously-diverse democracy to the limit. And many of our mainstream politicians have buried their heads in the sand over this.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Lebanese murder suspect ‘killed beauty queen then fled to Britain on a small boat'
A Lebanese man accused of murdering his model wife arrived in Britain on a small boat from France. While Ibrahim Ghazal is currently serving a nine-month sentence in jail for arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance, concerns have been raised about whether he will be able to be deported once he is released. The 36-year-old allegedly suffocated his beauty queen wife Zeina Kanjo to death in Beirut in 2021 and was the subject of an Interpol red notice. The alleged killer arrived as one of the 23,000 people who have crossed the English Channel from France in 2025. There are fears he may try the same defence to avoid being deported from the UK later this year. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the Ghazal case showed the Starmer government had no control over migrants entering Britain. 'As we know that the illegal immigrants arriving are from nationalities 24 times more likely to end up in prison, especially for sex offences,' Mr Philp told The Daily Mail. 'Every illegal immigrant should be immediately deported upon arrival - then the crossings would soon end.' Ms Kanjo's murder in 2021 caused outrage in Lebanon and started a national debate about domestic violence issues facing women in the middle eastern nation. The 33-year-old model, who had represented her country in a beauty contest in Egypt the previous years, had filed domestic violence and fraud charges against her new husband and was trying to divorce him when he allegedly killed her, according to The Daily Mail. 'I didn't want her to die' Just hours after her death, Ghazal fled to Turkey. Al Jadeed, a Lebanese TV channel, broadcast an audio recording in which he appeared to admit responsibility. In a conversation with Ms Zeina's sister, he allegedly said, 'I didn't want to, I didn't want her to die, when she was screaming, I just put my hand on her mouth'. Ghazal travelled through a string of European countries, including Greece, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, before he was arrested in Stockholm, Sweden, in December 2022. Ashraf Al-Moussawi, Ms Kanjo's lawyer, said Ghazal avoided extradition for years by claiming he faced a possible execution for his alleged crimes if he returned to Lebanon. 'In reality, Lebanon hasn't carried out an execution since 1994, so it shouldn't have been an obstacle,' he said. Detained by Border Force Mr Al-Moussawi and Ms Kanjo's father, Mohammed, urged the UK government to find a way to send Ghazal back to Lebanon to face justice. Ghazal was detained by Border Force and jailed by judge Ian Lawrie KC at Gloucester Crown Court last Wednesday after admitting entering the country unlawfully. A Home Office spokesman said they never commented on whether extradition requests had been received. 'It is also our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases,' the spokesman said. 'However, we will always do everything in our power to remove serious foreign criminals from the UK so they are not left free on our streets after completing their sentences.'


Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Starmer's EU reset to drive up cruise prices
Holidaymakers face paying more for cruises and ferry trips to the Continent under Sir Keir Starmer 's reset deal with the European Union. Passenger services are set to increase ticket prices in response to the UK adopting Brussels' rules on emissions costs. Industry insiders warned price rises were likely to mirror those in Europe, where costs on some routes have gone up by more than 10 per cent. This could add as much as £200 to the cost of a seven-day cruise, where a cabin can cost as much as £2,000 at the higher end. Some of the changes will come into force just before the height of next summer, when millions of Britons head to the Continent. Ministers announced last week that they would press ahead with expanding onerous net zero commitments to the maritime industry. From next July all shipping firms, including ferry operators and cruise liners, will be subject to the UK's emissions trading scheme (ETS). The move comes after Sir Keir agreed to link the UK and EU schemes as part of his Brexit reset deal, which was signed in May. It means ministers will set an overall cap on emissions for the maritime industry, with individual companies handed permits setting out how much greenhouse gas they can emit per year. If a business wants to go over its allowance, because demand for services is high, it will have to buy unused permits from another company. Over time the Government will lower the overall carbon cap in an effort to force shipping companies to reduce their emissions. Initially the UK ETS will only cover emissions from sea journeys made between British ports. But ministers have said they then intend to expand it to include international journeys, matching the approach taken by the EU. Companies are poised to pass on the cost to passengers of complying with the policy, including the need to adopt more expensive green technology. The EU Commission has admitted that its ETS scheme, which was expanded to cover shipping a year ago, has resulted in passenger lines putting up ticket prices. In a report assessing impacts of the first year of the scheme, EU officials wrote: 'There is evidence of specific ETS surcharges being applied on short sea shipping routes. 'An analysis of various ferry routes suggests that the impact of ETS costs on ticket prices largely varies across routes selected, with a price increasing ranging from 3 per cent to 11 per cent.' The same report also said that the scheme had introduced freight costs by between one per cent and five per cent and overall shipping costs across the industry by an average of 3.7 per cent. If replicated in Britain those figures would come as a concern at a time when the Government is struggling to keep a lid on inflation. Shipping industry figures said that UK holidaymakers were likely to experience a 'similar impact' on passenger ticket prices to that seen in the EU. One said that they had 'no doubt' that ferry operators would have to increase surcharges on Britons to recoup the extra costs. Another added: 'Inevitably there will be a cost increase to the cruise lines, therefore that money will have to come from somewhere.' Some businesses are concerned that the UK has rushed out its proposals to please the EU rather than waiting for a new international agreement on maritime emissions later this year. They fear that if the standards set by the International Maritime Organisation are less stringent, British firms will be left shouldering higher costs than international competitors. Andy Harmer, the managing director of the Cruise Lines International Association in the UK and Ireland, said: 'The cruise industry contributes £5.8bn to the UK economy, with over a third of the global cruise fleet visiting UK ports each year. 'To maintain and sustainably grow the more than 60,000 UK jobs that depend on the cruise industry, the UK's ETS system must be aligned with international counterparts and not risk the UK's competitiveness in the international cruise market.' There are also concerns that the Government's plans could wreak havoc on 'lifeline' island ferry services which are used by 2.4 million Britons every year. Such routes are vital to island dwellers, such as on the Isle of Wight and the Scilly Isles, who rely on them for access to the mainland for healthcare, education and essential goods. The UK Chamber of Shipping is urging ministers to exempt such services from the scheme amid warnings it could push up their fuel costs by almost a third, making many unviable. The Net Zero Department said that linking with the EU's emissions scheme would help British businesses avoid being hit with a new carbon border tax Brussels is introducing next year. A spokesman said of the EU Commission analysis: 'These figures do not apply to the UK and do not reflect that any costs come down as emissions are cut. 'By linking with the EU scheme, we will also cut red tape at the border, protect consumers from higher costs and make it easier for businesses to trade, boosting economic growth at home.'


Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Migrant dies trying to cross Channel
A man has died after suffering a cardiac arrest on a boat trying to reach the UK, French authorities have confirmed. The boat turned back towards Équihen beach in northern France on Saturday morning. When it arrived at the beach, a man was found on board in cardiac arrest, the Pas-de-Calais department's sub-prefecture told the PA news agency. Despite emergency services intervening at the scene, he died soon after. An investigation was under way to determine the circumstances of the man's death, the French authorities confirmed. According to Home Office provisional statistics, almost 24,000 people have arrived on small boats in the UK in 2025. Saturday's incident was the 11th migrant death in the Channel so far this year, after an unconscious woman was pulled from the water in May. She later died. The previous month, another migrant died as 51 survivors disembarked a Border Force vessel at Dover harbour on April 18. Figures from the UN's International Organisation for Migration estimate that some 82 migrants died or went missing attempting the crossing last year, making it the deadliest on record. It comes after it was revealed migrants could be housed in empty homes and properties bought by councils. The Government is proposing pilot schemes in which it could pay councils to buy or renovate property, which they would lease back to the Home Office, to house asylum seekers. Meanwhile, police braced for fresh protests against asylum hotels this weekend, following 16 arrests for violence at the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex. The violence followed anger over the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl by a 38-year-old migrant from Ethiopia. Some 32,000 asylum seekers are being housed in around 210 hotels, according to the latest Home Office data from March. This compares with just under 30,000 last June, days before Labour won the election, but down from the peak of 56,000 at 400 hotels in September 2023 at a cost of £9m a day.