The murder of three little girls in Britain triggered riots that have been brewing for years. According to a YouGov poll, 67 percent of Brits think the government’s immigration policy has contributed to the violence.

Conservatives in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 election campaigns promised to reduce immigration—but never did. The 2016 Brexit referendum promised to “take back control” of the United Kingdom’s immigration system. Britain left the European Union in 2020. “But the numbers of people who’ve moved here didn’t go down; they went up,” bbc reported on March 25.

Why is the British government not following what its people want?

The EU was not the only force keeping British borders open. With subtle hints, impassioned appeals and open threats, former United States President Barack Obama has convinced Britain to follow his will on immigration. Recently, he even helped a like-minded politician acquire the highest political office in Britain.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has pinpointed Obama’s influence as the main cause for Britain’s migration crisis.

The Migration Organizer

In 2011, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to address the British Parliament at Westminster Hall. He used his speech to inspire Britain to embrace multiculturalism:

Unlike most countries in the world, we do not define citizenship based on race or ethnicity. … Yes, our diversity can lead to tension. And throughout our history there have been heated debates about immigration and assimilation in both of our countries. But even as these debates can be difficult, we fundamentally recognize that our patchwork heritage is an enormous strength—that in a world which will only grow smaller and more interconnected, the example of our two nations says it is possible for people to be united by their ideals, instead of divided by their differences; that it’s possible for hearts to change and old hatreds to pass; that it’s possible for the sons and daughters of former colonies to sit here as members of this great Parliament, and for the grandson of a Kenyan who served as a cook in the British Army to stand before you as president of the United States.

Although his audience erupted in loud applause, his words were contrary to what Brits wanted at the time. According to a 2011 survey, the majority of Brits believed that “on the whole, immigration into Britain has been a bad thing for the country” and “Muslims create problems in the UK” (Searchlight Educational Trust).

As Trumpet managing editor Joel Hilliker wrote, “Instead of producing a stronger, more unified, more harmonious, peaceful and prosperous nation, the diversity cult has done untold damage. … Compulsory multiculturalism has created ghettos, fragmented British society, and empowered the most dangerous and radical of ideologues” (Feb. 18, 2008).

While Obama acknowledged that “diversity can lead to tension,” he passionately pleaded for more of it. The parliamentarians’ applause and inaction showed that the British government was persuaded to follow Obama’s will.

Partly because of the large number of immigrants, Brits called for a referendum to leave the EU. As Richard Palmer explained in “The Rise and Fall of an Empire”:

EU membership changed Britain in more fundamental and visible ways. The human rights legislation prevented the deportation of many immigrants from poorer countries, so refugees both real and so-called began pouring in from the Middle East and North Africa.

After trying to convince Britain to stay in the EU from abroad for weeks, Obama visited Downing Street in April 2016. During his trip, Chris Ship from itv News confronted him about his interference in Britain’s affairs:

In the weeks before your arrival here, leave campaigners have said that you’re acting hypocritically. America would not accept the loss of sovereignty that we have to accept as part of the EU. America would not accept the levels of immigration from Mexico that we have to accept from the EU. And therefore, in various degrees of politeness, they have said to you that you should really keep your views to yourself.

But Obama didn’t keep his views to himself. He threatened to put Britain at “the back of the queue” for trade relations if they left the EU. Most Brits ignored his threats and voted to leave.

After the Brexit referendum, Obama hosted a Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis in September 2016, where he urged for a global commitment to increase the take-in of refugees. He stated:

And just as failure to act in the past—for example, by turning away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany—is a stain on our collective conscience, I believe history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment.

British Prime Minster Theresa May thanked Obama “for putting refugees at the heart of your final General Assembly as president.” She then laid out how Britain intended to follow up on Obama’s plea.

Many in Britain were already frustrated by the high level of migration, but for Obama, it wasn’t enough: He set out to shape an even more liberal leader for Britain.

Starmer’s Mentor

In 2021, Sir Keir Starmer and Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy started holding discussions with Obama. Lammy told the Observer that the discussions revolved around strategies to win against the Conservatives.

Lammy, now the UK’s Foreign Secretary under Starmer, has known Obama for 20 years and shares many of his views. In 2018, he called Donald Trump a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order.”

Through Lammy, Obama has a direct link to the British government. But Obama also built a personal relationship with Starmer.

Speaking on Politico’s Power Play podcast in September 2023, Starmer said that “progressives need to hold together” and that Obama was the U.S. president he spoke to “most frequently.”

“I’ve spoken to him a number of times, and his analysis on the world is always interesting, his challenges, and just going through with him what he faced, how he rose to the challenges,” Starmer said. He indicated Obama’s guidance would shape his politics as prime minster:

He’s an acute observer of politics in the UK, is completely across what’s happening, and I think it is always useful to test my ideas on people who’ve won elections, people who’ve taken difficult decisions in power—because that helps me think about how we might approach some of the decisions we might have to take if we do win that election.

On March 18, Obama visited then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as well as Starmer. The Heritage Foundation commented in May:

The timing and optics … could not have been worse. This was a reckless move by Downing Street ahead of an impending U.S. presidential election this November, as well as a bad strategic decision to host a left-wing anti-British former president who actively tried to undermine Brexit and the democratic will of the British people. …

It is hard to see how Obama’s visit in any way reassures Conservative Brexit supporters who believe the Sunak administration has been far too weak in fully implementing Brexit and delivering upon its earlier promises.

In hindsight, Obama’s visit appears even more ominous: On July 4, Starmer’s Labour Party won the majority in Parliament. Business Insider even partially credited Obama for Starmer’s election victory. Just weeks after Starmer took office, Britain’s immigration problem exploded.

Part of the cause, according to Jim Ferguson, was the perception that Starmer was worsening an already two-tier justice system. As citizens were arrested for sharing “hateful” content online while Muslims roamed the streets with machetes, the people’s anger grew.

Britain’s Enemy

The Heritage Foundation observed: “Barack Obama epitomizes the anti-Brexit globalist liberal elite who openly sneer at the defense of borders, nation states and the fight against supranationalism.”

During his time as president, Obama’s stated goal was to “fundamentally transform America.” Britain shares some of America’s founding principles; clearly he wants to lend a hand in its transformation as well.

The Heritage Foundation wrote:

As president, Obama and his administration also had a long track record of insulting Britain, from throwing out a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, to siding with former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner over the Falkland Islands. His successor, Joe Biden, has been just as bad, if not worse. Obama’s visit simply reminds the British electorate of the many times Biden and his team have shamelessly knifed Britain in the back, including over Northern Ireland, and sinking a trade deal between London and Washington.

Instead of seeking to preserve Western society, Obama seeks to destroy and supplant it.

He supports open borders because they permanently transform British society. He promotes “supranationalism” because it allows unelected authorities to dictate what otherwise independent countries could decide.

If you carefully study Obama’s agenda, you will see a pattern of seeking to overthrow everything the British Empire has stood for. He has defamed the British crown and praised South Africa for breaking with British values. He helped transform Canada to the point where freedom of expression is lost. He advocated for taking in migrants and embracing multiculturalism. As he told an audience in South Africa:

Every generation has the opportunity to remake the world. Mandela said, “Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom.” Now is a good time to be aroused. Now is a good time to be fired up.

Obama’s goal is to “remake the world,” a world that was defined by American and British values.

The Prophesied Antiochus

To understand Obama, we have to understand a historic figure: Antiochus iv Epiphanes, a Seleucid king who obtained rule in Palestine in 176 b.c. through deceit and flattery.

Many Bible commentators recognize Daniel 8 revolves around this Antiochus. But they fail to understand that the prophecy is dual and primarily for the end time, as Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry explains in America Under Attack.

The primary goal of the ancient Antiochus was to destroy Judah. In the “latter days,” an Antiochus-type seeks to eradicate “the name of Israel” (2 Kings 14:26-27). Biblical Israel refers to the modern nations of Britain and America. (Request a free copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy by Herbert W. Armstrong.) Obama’s actions against Britain and America prove he is a modern fulfillment of Antiochus.

To learn more about Britain’s recent chaos, read “Why Britain Is Burning” and watch our new Trumpet World program on “Why Britain’s Immigration Crisis?”