The Personal Is Political, What ?

Demographic patterns themselves reflect social and cultural shifts. Europe has not lost its physical ability to reproduce; it is not naturally less fecund than other cultures. Rather, many European societies seem simply to have lost interest in producing children. It is possible that Europe’s estrangement from the act of reproduction reflects a mood of moral uncertainty and fear of the future. Yet the stabilisation of Europe’s population levels or even a further fall in its birth rates need not be discussed in apocalyptic terms. In our hi-tech era, societies are less dependent on the size of their populations than they have ever been. A reduction in the size of a country’s population does not necessarily lead to a loss of power or influence.

In any case, the trend towards declining fertility rates in Europe is unlikely to be reversed in the long run. Pro-natal policies have little impact on European people’s choices or behaviour. In fact, as Heinsohn suggests, such policies will probably benefit immigrant couples who wish to have a large family ...

State-funded academic Frank Furedi in Spiked. His wife Ann is chief exec of BPAS, the state-funded abortion service which makes such a hefty contribution to the annual 200,000-odd UK abortion cull, and which has such extremely dodgy practices.

The chat around the Furedi breakfast bar must be interesting.

(Mr Furedi's state-funded colleague Ellie 'cut the umbilical cord, then kill them' Lee seems a scary woman. I bet she gets on well with her Pro-Choice Forum colleague Dr Stuart 'post-natal termination' Derbyshire.)