Demographic shift udermining British identity

Rising immigration fuels 26-year fertility high | Uk News | News | Telegraph :

"As Britain's demographics change, Mohammed is expected soon to replace Jack as the most popular boy's name. It has already pushed Thomas into third place."

Immigration has profoundly altered Britain in the past - and not always in a good way. What will be the impact of changes currently under way?

Ancient Celtic Britain was altered by the Roman conquests which began with Julius Caesar in the mid-first century BC and went on for a few centuries. Piecemeal integration of a large portion of the island into the Roman Empire had profound impacts on commerce, architecture, public works, social organization, and religion. While the Romans brought their pagan gods and goddesses with them, it is also possible that Britain's inclusion in the empire may have facilitated the extension of Christianity into the island beginning in the first century AD.

As the Roman empire began to collapse in upon itself, the legions left and so did their brand of pagan religion, but another sort of paganism arrived with the Jutes, Angles and Saxons which proved even more hostile to Christianity driving most of the bishops and clergy into Wales. This created the opening for Roman Catholic influence which arrived with Augustine in 597.

Raids and limited conquests, mostly in the north and east, from Scandinavians had limited direct impact but helped to weaken the island's defences in the face of its greatest challenge since Roman times. In 1066, King Harold Godwinson had to fight off another invasion from the Scandinavians and immediately turn his forces south to face Duke Willliam of Normandy in the decisive battle at Senlac.

The Norman conquest not only upset old social and political structures and revolutionized the language, it also buttressed the influence of Rome in religion. As the Normans extended and consolidated their rule over most of what is now England, Wales and Ireland, the Christian churches were united under the tutelage of Rome in the 14th century. a situation that would last for two centuries and play a major role in later upheavals both social and political.

What can we expect of the accelerating changes in Britain that trace back to the end of empire following WW2? A part of the current situation traces to the conversion of the old empire into the commonwealth. The wholesale granting of British passports to former colonials had the effect of greatly increasing immigration, especially non-white immigration, by people seeking better economic opportunities and/or fleeing political and social chaos in their newly-independent countries.

The race riots that once plagued places like Brixton have largely abated, but a new, and less tractable, problem than race relations has arisen. As the Muslim component of immigration has increased, there have been increasing calls for Britons to allow for the parallel functioning of Sharia law as an interim measure until Britain becomes part of Dar al Islam. This is a challenge facing much of Europe including France, Germany and the Low Countries. In the case of the UK it is exacerbated by the large number of Hindus living there with their traditional rivalry with Islam fed by continuing conflict between India and Pakistan and periodic outbreaks of inter-communal conflict within India.