Two items in the UK news this week show the very real danger of social and political disturbances affecting the nation in the not-too-distant future. One is a YouGov poll suggesting a substantial Conservative majority in the coming General Election; the second is the decision of the Vue cinema chain to reinstate the film ‘Blue Story’ for showing nationwide.

The YouGov poll, which is the only opinion poll that got the outcome of the last General Election right, has done an extensive survey across the country taking note of local constituency circumstances, and has concluded that the Conservatives are likely to gain a majority of some 68 seats. This is no doubt due to the utter disarray of the Labour Party, the poor leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and the negative reaction to the outbreaks of anti-Semitism in their ranks.

‘Blue Story’ is a film partly sponsored by the BBC and directed by a young African rapper Andrew Onwubolu who grew up on a south London estate in Deptford in a world of gangs, violence, machismo and death. He likes to be known as ‘Rapman’ or ‘Raps’ for short. He gained the attention of Hollywood after making a 10-minute film screened on YouTube that rapidly reached a million hits. ‘Blue Story’ is about the friendship of two boys in neighbouring postcodes who get caught up in rival gang warfare. The objective of the film is to discourage knife crime and, in the words of the director, “to change lives”.

Nevertheless, there were violent clashes between young people queueing to see the film at a cinema in Birmingham that spilled out into a shopping complex. Police were called when machetes were seen among the crowd queueing outside the cinema and seven officers were injured in the ensuing clash. Families with young children in the complex had a frightening experience which led to the banning of the film not only in Birmingham, but across all the cinemas in the Vue chain. The chain has now decided to begin showing ‘Blue Story’ again with additional security to ensure the safety of cinema-goers.

What is the connection between these two events that have hit the headlines this week? They both show the potential for violent confrontation and instability in society. 

These events both show the potential for violent confrontation and instability in society.

Political Volatility

Dominic Cummings was quite right in warning that the YouGov poll is actually bad news for the Conservatives, as it could lead to complacency and many of their supporters failing to vote, which could radically change the result. There are still two weeks to go until the election and that is a very long time in politics, especially in today’s world of instant communication.

A further unknown factor thrown into the mix is that more than three million new voters have registered in the past month.¹ These new voters, many of whom are likely to be young people, are less likely to be Conservative voters and more likely to be part of Jeremy Corbyn’s fan club.

All of these factors make a hung parliament a distinct possibility. This would undoubtedly be a sign of God’s judgment upon the nation, as it would lead to an intensification of the highly charged situation that we saw in the last months of the old Parliament, both inside the chamber and outside on the streets of the capital and other major cities. The danger of political instability triggering social instability is intensified by the climate campaigners who have already demonstrated their ability to disrupt the affairs of the nation through their direct-action tactics, blocking road and rail transport and using social media to attract large crowds to designated places.

Social Volatility

The Blue Story incident in Birmingham is a small but significant indication of the volatility of society, especially among young people in this social media age where news is spread instantly through mobile phones and crowds can be escalated rapidly.

The volatile social scene in Britain that this incident reflects is far more serious and deep-seated than appears on the surface. It is rooted in the breakdown of family life, because the family is responsible for the transmission of social values from one generation to the next (thus, the family is the major social institution for determining the health and stability of society). A high level of family breakdown produces a generation of children with mental health and emotional problems that are seen in the classroom, in the playground and on our city streets.

Both these news items carry a message of warning to the nation, indicating deep-seated problems that can be traced back to our value system.

Message of Warning

These two items in the news this week both have an underlying message of warning to the nation that needs to be heard and heeded. Both indicate deep-seated problems of social instability that can be traced to the value system in society. In Prophecy Today we have been warning of this since the 1980s. The threat of widespread social instability has been growing for decades and has never been more imminent than it is today.

The underlying problem is that for decades, politicians of all parties have been pursuing policies which are directly opposed to the biblical values that previously guarded the nation. Those biblical values of truth, integrity, faithfulness, loyalty and love have guarded the moral integrity, the mental and emotional stability and the corporate well-being of the nation. But they have been deliberately attacked and discarded in a drip-feed of agnostic liberalism that has had a devastating effect upon every aspect of personal and community life.

Until this is recognised and there is a radical change of direction in social policy, reflected in British politics, we will continue to drift towards disaster – both social and economic. That is the warning that needs to be heard and heeded across Britain today.

A General Election will not solve our problems, which are far too deep-rooted for simple solutions. Britain has to turn away from the ungodly laws that have been put onto the statute book of the nation during the past 50 years. Otherwise, whether we leave or remain in the EU will make no difference to the eventual outcome. This is the warning to the nation that needs to be heard and heeded.

An updated version of our list of Britain’s ungodly laws can be found here.

References

1 More than 3 million people apply to vote in general election as deadline looms. Politics Home, 26th November 2019.