https://firstthings.com/the-england-i-knew-is-gone/
I don't think there's anything terribly surprising to be found here. Politico reports on a 'Re-migration' summit back in May 2026 that took place in Portugal. The article simply demonstrates the degree of overlap and how these issues are bringing together the various Right-wing parties within Europe - each with their own nuance and degrees of restraint.
What did catch my eye was the mention of Eva Vlaardingerbroek, the Dutch Far-Right commentator. For my part I'm convinced that many of these female figures on the Right are popular for reasons other than their intellectual acumen or brilliance. If she were less photogenic, one wonders if she would have 1/8 of her present audience.
Regardless, the article mentions her in connection to the Great Replacement Theory which is deceitfully obfuscated by some of its proponents (like the late Charlie Kirk) and sometimes tempered - depending on their audience. The bottom line is that advocates of this view believe in a deliberate conspiratorial plot by Western Liberal Elites to destroy 'Christian Civilisation' (assuming such thing is a valid concept to begin with) and one of their means in accomplishing this is through immigration and the subversion and corruption of democracy along with the perversion of culture. This view (while often championing democracy and Liberalism) also assumes some rather questionable things regarding the nature of democracy and its claims. In other cases it is blatantly anti-Liberal, anti-Democratic, and espouses authoritarian ideals.
Just this morning, I was reading Carl Trueman's latest article at First Things wherein he states:
Earlier this year, I had a strange premonition of how different England has become. A young Dutch politician, Eva Vlaardingerbroek, was barred from entering the U.K. One of my sisters had never heard of her and therefore did an AI Google search to find out what had made her so dangerous. To her surprise, the chatbot told her that this politician was known, among other things, to refer to my work in public lectures, and that we were both outspoken opponents of transgenderism. The same government, of course, has allowed thousands of anonymous young men to enter the country, providing them with accommodation while only last week finding it necessary to advise them of some quaint aspects of British culture, such as the fact that women are allowed to work, that “if you have sex with someone without their consent, this is called rape,” and that if you indulge in such behavior, “it will affect your asylum claim.” Dutch conservatives who think that women cannot have penises are not welcome, while men from countries that consider rape something of a gray area are entering in droves.
And yet I found that Vlaardingerbroek was barred entry to the UK (in January 2026) on the basis of her anti-immigration activism, insults levied at Keir Starmer, and the promotion of conspiracy theories. One wonders if Trueman's sister was 'logged in' during the AI search and if so, and if she had links/connections to her brother's online writings and presence - the AI might have tailored the response and made a connection that otherwise was somewhat dubious.
Vlaardingerbroek has appeared at CPAC conferences, but the British government apparently took note of her participation in Tommy Robinson's Far-Right Rally in September 2025 - an event that threatened and promised violence. While one need not be a fan of the Starmer government, one can understand (to some extent) why they would wish to not give a platform to foreign provocateurs.
Let us not be fooled by the rhetoric. It's not re-migration, it's mass deportation. That's what they're all about. And when some blonde sex kitten speaks provocatively with Right-wing slogans emblazoned across her chest and warning of brown men committing rape - it creates some powerful imagery and it gets a lot of attention, far more than were it someone less eye-catching.
As The Guardian reported, Islamist preachers have also been banned, as well as the Far-Right Austrian Martin Sellner who has been connected to the 2019 ChristChurch mass shooter. It should also be noted that while these advocates of mass deportation cannot be directly blamed for the 2011 Utøya Massacre, it is certain that Anders Breivik was (and is) inspired by this same ideology. This might explain London's reticence to let someone like Vlaardingerbroek back into the country.
Trueman was obviously startled to learn that Vlaardingerbroek is familiar with his writings but what startled me is that he seemed unwilling to distance himself from her larger ideology, or perhaps he didn't bother to look into it. Fine, they share in a rejection of transgenderism, but there's a lot more to Vlaardingerbroek's ideology that should trouble him.
Upon investigating some of Trueman's claims I found he has simply repeated some of the Right's sensationalism surrounding the UK's immigrant guidelines. Yes, there is a degree of absurdity to it, but the collapse of the 'Christian Britain' that troubles Trueman is not the result of immigrants, but of regular people no longer going to Church or believing in what it teaches. The immigrants (scions of the British Empire) are filling an economic need - is Trueman prepared to critique capitalism? Capitalism doesn't care about preservation, it cares about profit and as such it's always looking to change. Culturally it's a destructive force and like Marxism it relies on what is functionally a materialist philosophy in evaluating the nature and meaning of life.
He would critique individualism. Amen! But will he critique its foundations - Enlightenment Classical Liberalism? These issues (as he well knows) far antedate the post-war consensus (as the Far Right would have it). The problems are much deeper and further confused because that same Enlightenment or Classical Liberalism is something many Christians cherish and believe to be an outworking of their faith. From the 19th century Whigs to most contemporary American Evangelicals (those who haven't crossed over into fascism), they believe Liberalism (democracy, constitutionalism, individualism, civil rights, the social contract, and capitalism) is an application of Christian principles to Enlightenment-era government and society. For my part I reject this entirely, but it's a reality we must deal with and this kind of thinking is deeply ingrained in Western Christian thinking - in their very DNA as it were.
Trueman speaks of decency. While I too find the present culture of crude talk to be off-putting (and I'm glad he's willing to blame both sides of the political spectrum), I would argue the individualist, grand-standing, media/attention grabbing ethos is born (once again) of capitalism. The fast-talking culture that struggled to gain and retain one's attention was born of the industrial age. The new city life produced a new urban-industrial ethos that came into its own during the Gay Nineties (1890's) - marked by the challenge of convention, decadence, and growing angst. This period overlaps with the Gilded Age which also marked a challenge to conventional morality and the social contract. And in Europe there is the larger period of La Belle Epoque - which apart from its grandiosity in the realms of culture and art was also marked by decadence, the scrambling nouveaux rich, bourgeoisie materialism, and cabaret culture (with of course the can-can).
After the horrors of the World Wars, many conventions seemed absurd, many previous claims seemed no longer sustainable, many ideas no longer captivated. And within a generation they were under major assault.
Trueman is enough of a historian that he should be more circumspect.
Any of us who have some grey hair on our heads feel the burden of cultural change and take umbrage at the new culture that seems to emerge with each passing generation. Does this present iteration mark a larger break with the past? A surface examination may give that very impression but I think if we look a little deeper, we come to realize the roots for the present moment extend back more than a century. This doesn't make me feel better in terms of what I deal with day to day, but this reality combined with my understanding of this present evil age and the constant New Testament threat and promise of apostasy give me a bit of different perspective as I weigh world events and the course of history. It certainly helps one avoid the perils of Revisionist Romanticism when it comes to Britain, America, or the West in general. It should also help us to understand the historical and ideological platforms the contemporary Right is standing on, as well as the lies and manipulations they employ with regard to history in order to justify their narratives.
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