What Did They Expect Us To Do? 
Considering how the Church should respond to Britain's growing social tensions

Just what did they expect? Did the government think that we were just going to put up with it, that we were going to keep calm and carry on?

Britain’s breaking point

Well, we did; we put up with government incompetence for years; we put up with virtually throwing our borders open to all; we put up with the censorship of our speech and conversations; we put up with the traducing of our heritage and traditions. It has recently emerged that civil servants working for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs were invited to take part in an hour-long seminar on the ‘guilt of being British’, offering staff the chance to explore ‘the emotional weight of colonial history’. We have put up with so much  - but we have now reached breaking point.

We have reached the stage where the US State Department flags Britain as a risky place to speak your mind. This year’s annual Human Rights Report claims that ‘the human rights situation worsened in the United Kingdom during the year,’ citing ‘credible reports of serious restrictions on freedom of expression, including enforcement of or threat of criminal or civil laws in order to limit expression; and crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by anti-Semitism’.

Restrictions on speech

The report notes restrictions on speech – even silent meditation and prayer – near abortion clinics, and the Online Safety Act’s curtailment of internet use policed by Ofcom. The report notes that ‘censorship of ordinary Britons was increasingly routine, often targeted at political speech’. Such speech is often deemed misinformation or ‘hate speech’, including in relation to migrants and crimes committed by foreign nationals.

This year’s annual Human Rights Report claims that ‘the human rights situation worsened in the United Kingdom during the year.'

Recently, in Rotherham, several local police took action against John Steele, a street preacher, simply for asking a question about the Quran and domestic violence. He questioned the authority of the Quran, which made a Muslim feel 'threatened'. It was not because the preacher threatened anyone; it was because the very notion that the Quran could be questioned publicly was itself deemed a ‘threatening’ act. Similarly saying, ‘We love bacon’ near the site of a proposed gigantic mosque in the Lake District is enough to get a Muslim offended and a pair of police to pounce on and arrest the bacon-loving miscreant.

Migrants and Flag-wavers

Nearly 28,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2025. The first six months of the year saw a record high, and that number keeps going up. There are currently more than 32,000 asylum seekers housed in just under 210 hotels, funded at a cost of more than £5 million each day by the British taxpayer. Many people suspect that we are sharing the country with people who are are a danger to us because they don’t play by the same rules, especially the unwritten ones. The ordinary people who live near the hotels where illegal immigrants are housed have started protesting concerning the danger that they pose to local women and children. What did they expect us to do?
 
Any country in which hoisting the national flag is viewed by the authorities as a provocation which could lead to inter-communal violence isn’t in a good place. When ordinary people started flying national flags on lamp-posts, local councils immediately removed the flags on the spurious grounds of heath-and-safety, despite having allowed Palestinian flags to fly from the same lampposts for months.

Any country in which hoisting the national flag is viewed by the authorities as a provocation which could lead to inter-communal violence isn’t in a good place. 

Ordinary people responded by flying even more Union and St George’s flags, even painting St George’s crosses on roundabouts and potholes. A people being constantly betrayed, and who know that their ruling class looks down on them, assert through this simple act of flag waving that they still exist. What did they expect us to do?

Taking action

These, like the protests at migrant hotels, are not the actions of the near mythical ‘far right’. These and similar actions are the spontaneous reactions of British people, of all backgrounds, who feel with some justification that their wishes have been ignored for decades. Trust in government and politicians generally is at its lowest ebb in living memory. Like citizens throughout Europe, we are increasingly turning to populist political parties; at least they listen to us and respond to our wishes. What did they expect us to do?
 
They expected us to accept whatever they decided was good for us, to grumble a bit and then grin and bear it. But more and more people are deciding to challenge the elite powers that would control our lives. They have taken action. The big question which faces us is:
 
What should Christians do?

But more and more people are deciding to challenge the elite powers that would control our lives. They have taken action.

Pray
The obvious first thing to do is to pray. Our country is sliding into a dangerous place where anything might happen, from full-scale rebellion to harsh repression. Dr David Betz, a professor in the War Studies department at King’s College, London, believes that civil war in this country is now inevitable. Whether or not you accept Dr Betz’s position, it is clear that our nation is in a febrile state.
 
Our first recourse must be to turn to the One who has us in His hands and pray for those who rule us (I Tim 2:2; Ps 72). We should repent that Christians have allowed our country to lose its Christian heritage and the Church to lose its way, and plead for forgiveness for the part we have played in bringing about our present situation (Dan 9:4ff).
 
We should pray for all who feel left behind and ignored, for those who feel used, for those who have genuine concerns and grievances and think that no-one listens to them. We should pray for the leadership of all communities to have the wisdom and grace which will enable difficult and honest conversations to take place.

We must take fellowship seriously (Acts 2:42-47); only then will we build communities which will withstand the pressures to come upon us ...

Strengthen our communities
 
It is imperative that we strengthen our congregations and fellowships. The coming increasing tensions will cause many to question, and will inevitably bring casualties in their wake. We must take fellowship seriously (Acts 2:42-47); only then will we build communities which will withstand the pressures to come upon us, and which will support those who question the world’s way and shelter the broken. It is the Church which is ‘the pillar and foundation of the truth’ (I Tim 3:14), and in the turmoil of the coming days we, and the world, need strong communities which embody that truth.
 
The norms of secular society are not our norms. We must accept that we Christians are living as exiles in this world (I Pet 1:1-2), and that means we must live with far greater spiritual discipline.

We must become individuals growing into ever increasing biblical unity, prepared to question and to explore our situation, share our findings, and above all support each other.