All that has gone wrong with European countries

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Opinion: Nitin Mehta: All that has gone wrong with European countries

By Nitin Mehta

March 17, 2024

The police is sometimes reluctant to pursue ethnic minority criminals for fear of being called racist.

European nations are facing an existential crisis. They are engulfed by self-doubt, inertia, apathy and indifference. The malaise has two main causes. They complement each other. One is the idea of not “rocking the boat” and the other is “political correctness”. I will explain how it works by giving an example. Many years ago, I was appointed as a governor of a college. There were at least 10 of us. Our job was to ensure the smooth running of the college. However all the governors were interested in was not to rock the boat. Malpractices were overlooked and the governors would be invited for a drink by the principal after a meeting, which blurred the professional integrity of the governors. The same attributes prevail in almost all walks of life. The big accountancy firms with blue chip clients often overlook transgressions of the firms they audit. They would rather not lose a prestigious client. Local councils have gone bankrupt because the accountants, local politicians and CEOs have sat on financing irregularities. No one is held accountable. On the contrary, the failed CEOs are given golden handshakes and allowed to move on. Corruption is widespread. The same is true for most institutions created to protect the public. A body set up to investigate the press for biased and offensive reporting will almost always vindicate the press. Dereliction of duty is at the heart of the matter. Recently, an asylum seeker who was guilty of sexual crimes went on to get refugee status to stay in the UK even though that is against the asylum laws. It was obvious someone had not bothered to look into the history of this individual. He went on to commit another horrific crime.

The police in the UK has failed the citizens by overlooking the deeds of its officers involved in sexual abuse, racism and other crimes. Violence against women has become endemic. The last Home Secretary Priti Patel received 180,000 responses from women giving their experience of the violence and abuse they suffered. They shared similar experiences of being at the receiving end of unwelcome advances, inappropriate touching, flashing and cyberflashing, objectification, abuse and assault. The annual Crime Survey for England and Wales suggested that 800,000 women annually were victims of sexual assault. Some 750,000 men posed a sexual threat to children. Metropolitan Police Commissioner for London, Sir Mark Rowley has suggested that sexual crimes against women should be treated like terrorism.

According to Priti Patel, one of the most worrying concerns was the fear women felt that when they reported incidents they would not be taken seriously. Employers, the police and other institutions were singled out as not treating misogynistic and abusive attitudes in a serious manner, with women already distressed being retraumatised and gaslighted. Instead of being supported, their experiences were dismissed or brushed aside, causing victims to be hesitant, reluctant and unwilling to come forward. A society in which those entrusted to protect you become abusers is a society which has an unpleasant future. Domestic violence is another big issue in the UK. In order to address the problem a new scheme has been put in place by which women can check with the police if their potential partner has a history of violence against women.

Political correctness is the other problem facing European countries. The police is sometimes reluctant to pursue ethnic minority criminals for fear of being called racist. The politicians use the word Asian so as to avoid naming a particular community involved in any wrongdoing. Many big institutions and politicians do not send Christmas cards saying, “Happy Christmas”. They send cards saying, “Season’s Greetings”, presumably not to displease non-Christians.

Millions of immigrants in Europe have failed to integrate with the people who have welcomed them. The UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and many other countries gave the immigrants every freedom to pursue their religion and culture. This liberalism has failed to assimilate the newcomers. Ghettoisation has resulted in some immigrant communities completely cut off from the mainstream. The conflicts of their home countries are playing out on the streets of European countries. The war in Gaza has resulted in the Jewish community being targeted in London. Many are too scared to come out of their homes. Political parties are trying to outdo each other in providing more and more free welfare handouts. The result is that tens of thousands of people see no need to work.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently addressed the nation and said: “On too many occasions recently, our streets have been hijacked by small groups who are hostile to our values and have no respect for our democratic traditions. Membership of our society is contingent on some simple things…that you abide by the rule of law, and that change can only come through the peaceful, democratic process. Threats of violence and intimidation are alien to our way of doing things: they must be resisted at all times.” He has declared that those undermining British values will be considered extremists.
As India marches ahead it should take note of what has gone wrong in the West.

Nitin Mehta

17 March 2024