In the wake of a deadly attack at a Manchester synagogue, British writer and political commentator Brendan O’Neill joined Chicago’s Morning Answer with Dan Proft to discuss what the tragedy reveals about the state of modern Britain, its failures in integration, immigration, and political leadership.
The attack, carried out by a 35-year-old Syrian immigrant on bail for a rape charge, left two people dead and several injured. For O’Neill, the crime highlights more than a single act of violence—it represents a larger unraveling of British society. “This family was given citizenship, jobs, and a home,” O’Neill noted. “And yet their son turned around and carried out a heinous assault on British Jews. It’s not just a crisis of integration—it’s a collapse of integration.”
O’Neill argued that anti-Semitism in Britain has surged since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, describing weekly anti-Israel marches as “orgies of anti-Semitism.” He noted that open calls for violence against Jews have been ignored by authorities who seem more interested in policing online speech than physical threats. “The police are now more focused on arresting people for rude jokes or tweets than stopping those plotting actual anti-Semitic acts,” he said.
The irony, he added, is striking. Just days before the synagogue attack, British police arrested an autistic man for posting an anti-Hamas meme on social media, while individuals making open threats against Jewish communities go unchecked. “It’s a skewing of moral priorities,” O’Neill said. “The government is tyrannical when it shouldn’t be, and incompetent when it mustn’t be.”
The conversation then turned to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s proposal for a mandatory digital ID system, which the government claims will help prevent illegal immigrants from working in the UK. O’Neill was blunt in his criticism. “The government can’t police the borders, so instead it’s going to police the people,” he said. “This has nothing to do with immigration. It’s about building a control infrastructure.”
He agreed with commentator Konstantin Kisin’s warning that such a system would hand even more power to a government already known for censoring dissent and overreaching during the pandemic. “The British state can’t deport the people it already knows are here illegally,” O’Neill said. “But it can make the rest of us carry ID cards. It’s disgraceful.”
O’Neill also questioned Starmer’s sincerity in addressing immigration and national sovereignty, describing the Labour leader as a “globalist technocrat” more at home in Davos than Westminster. “He doesn’t believe in borders or national identity,” O’Neill said. “He’s not capable of restoring sovereignty, and that’s exactly what the British people want.”
Despite deep frustration with the political class, O’Neill said the populist spirit that powered Brexit and inspired movements across Europe and America hasn’t disappeared. He pointed to Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party as evidence that dissatisfaction is reaching a breaking point. “People are tired of being ruled by the globalist elite. They want serious democracy, borders that mean something, and leaders who represent them,” O’Neill said. “If Farage can channel that energy, British politics could experience another revolution.”
From rising anti-Semitism to unchecked migration and a government obsessed with digital control, O’Neill painted a picture of a Britain at odds with itself—a nation struggling to balance compassion with sovereignty, tolerance with security, and democracy with technocracy.
As he put it, “This isn’t just about immigration or speech laws. It’s about whether Britain still believes in itself.”
Photo by James Giddins on Unsplash