The Collapse Of Old Europe in 2015

By Raheem Kassam

So this is the way 2015 ends for Europe – not with a bang, but with a whimper. With Brussels, Paris, London, and Berlin all on high alert, having either cancelled or drastically altered their plans for traditional New Year's celebrations across the capitals of the continent.
It would be amusing were it not such a tragic development for those of us who have to live among them, that the open-door, terrorist-apologist policies of liberal leftists, which has its tentacles deep in the "old" conservative parties across Europe, have led in many ways to the decline of their own ideals.
"Tolerance" – going. "Sexual liberation" – going. "Feminism" – gone. These, if not yet fully dead, are ideals in their death throes as Europe undergoes a seismic shift in demographics and, inevitably, our politics.
And what better way than to mark the occasion than German Chancellor Angela Merkel – not so much the architect as the project manager – delivering her annual New Year speech, for the first time, subtitled in Arabic?

German state television broadcast Chancellor Angela Merkel's annual New Year's speech with Arabic subtitles.

Some have deeply pessimistic takes on it all. It's hard not to. It is very hard to sit across from someone at the dinner table and with a straight face proclaim, "I'm sure it's going to be alright."
What people are really talking about around their dining tables this Christmas and New Year season are the ever-slimming chances of the survival of their lifestyles; the survival of Western civilisation. And our ivory-tower dwelling colleagues in the left/mainstream media scratch their heads and ask, "Why do people support Donald Trump/UKIP/PEGIDA/Viktor Orban/AfD/Front National" (delete as appropriate).
"Do not portray this as a clash of civilisations," we are so often told. The implication coming from the liberal left, once again, is that people like me, born into Muslim households in the West, are still predisposed to a different civilisation. THAT civilisation. The one with the beheadings, the niqabs, the child abuse, and the hurling of people from buildings.
The real racists – a word we were bored of hearing before the clock struck midnight at the end of 2014, and to which we became so inured in 2015 – are those that would argue against portraying this as a clash of civilisations so as not to offend the first and second generation immigrants already in our midst. As if I'm "offended" by attacks on fundamentalist Islam. (Anyone that is, by the way – is likely a closeted Islamist).
The real racists are the ones who tell you that if you're ethnic in any way, shape, or form, you have to vote alongside the liberal left.
But let it be noted that it is desperation emanating from the left and the mainstream that is causing such laughable reactions. Politics is Europe is changing again.

The load-bearing columns of the European Union are beginning to crumble.

So soon after a united continent was declared and the bureaucrats seized power in the bloodless coup of 1957, we see the load-bearing columns of the European Union beginning to crumble. The Schengen free movement area, the Euro, and indeed Britain's membership of the European Union all have diamond-encrusted question marks dangling over them.
The mass migration of 2015 will continue in 2016. Events have no concept of cut-off dates, and our own leaders' geopolitical fuckwittery apparently knows no bounds as our troops are again dragged off to war in some desert, still trying to "correct" a mistake of almost exactly 100 years ago. As if lines on a map are what forces men to spill the blood of others in the name of holy texts.
And 2016 will not be a year solely about the U.S. Presidential elections. Though there is no doubting the majority of news coverage, especially towards the end of the year, will be about which Republican is the most racist, and which Democrat cares most about transgender migrant children.
The forthcoming year will also be about Britain's membership in the European Union. Those who believe this can be a quiet, domestic news story (i.e. newspaper editors across the UK) will find that it will be one of the biggest international stories of the year, not to be buried on page 31 in the "World" section.
Britain used to be a pioneer. When she began to give up this trait, her most pioneering citizens departed and founded a new country that has led the way recently. But Britain can be a pioneer again in 2016. In the year of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, we will once again lock horns with an expansionist Germany. The only difference is this time is that they have the French of their side. But then again, when did that ever make a difference?
So here are some predictions for 2016, since I am obligated by ego to do so:

• Tablighi Jamaat, the 'Army of Darkness' Islamic sect will be thrust to the front and centre of radicalisation concerns across the Western World;
• Britain's EU membership will be decided by whether or not the government plays fair and refuses to use tax payer money on pro-EU propaganda (this will be a hard battle to win);
• Europe will edge closer to letting Turkey into the EU, but will balk at the last minute as what has been clear to us finally becomes clear to policymakers – that Mr. Erdogan is another Muammar Gaddafi, albeit this time in some dodgy blazers;
• The decline of the mainstream media will continue apace as the public loses trust in the BBC, the Times, even channels like Fox News. I fully expect a major UK national newspaper to fold or take it to "online only";
• I will continue to be a "wrong un" who is obviously totally wrong about everything, always. Even though, you know, almost everything I claimed after leaving UKIP has turned out to be totally true.

Annus horribilis? You ain't seen nothing yet...