Over a century ago, Britain was seen as the place to be. It pioneered science, including medicine. It built industries such as railroads, major bridges and created a strong middle class. And despite what some would say, it was the only major empire that abolished slavery and policed the oceans, at its own considerable expense, to make sure other countries didn’t enslave people. And it had the largest Navy in the world. Now, many say, that all seems like a distant memory.

The latest controversy involves images or statues of some of the United Kingdom’s most lauded people. The face of Winston Churchill, the British prime minister during WWII, is being removed from the five-pound note by the Bank of England. The Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage called the decision "absolutely crackers," noting the proposal was to replace Churchill and others with a picture of a beaver. 

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Churchill’s statue in Westminster was vandalized in 2020 and again last month. Churchill led the defense of Britain, which was the only country in Europe that didn’t fall during WWII. 

"Decades of woke education policy have taught people to deny and decry the history of this country as it is deemed to be oppressive, racist and unfair," Alan Mendoza, founder and executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital. He says the teaching labor unions controlled by the hard left have enforced their agenda on generations of pupils. "It is no surprise, therefore, that at least some of their victims have imbibed this philosophy and are acting on it."

Statues of British people who lived centuries ago have been targeted to be pulled down and then destroyed. Some of these efforts have been successful. Some have not. William Gladstone, Robert Peel, James Cook and Francis Drake were targeted for destruction by activists, according to Sky News. These men were, respectively, a reformist prime minister, the founder of the police force, a naval explorer and a privateer. Luckily, their statues remain largely intact.

Now William Shakespeare is under attack. Apparently, being White is a bad thing, and some say the Bard was really a Black woman. The activist summary is that Shakespeare might be used to advocate White nationalism.

These attempts to erase high-achieving Brits from history might appear trivial, Matt Goodwin, a GB News presenter, wrote on X. "It matters far more than many people realize," he wrote. "Across the Western World, an assortment of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [DEI] bureaucrats, radical activists, and increasingly compliant public institutions are engaged in a cultural project that seeks to delegitimize our national."

It’s not just statues and images that have been targeted. Flying your own country’s flag can get you in trouble. Left-wingers in Britain, such as Labor Party supporters, often view the flying of the United Kingdom’s Union Jack flag, or St. George's Cross, as racist or anti-immigration.

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"So strong has become the voice of DEI and immigrants that any sign of a proud U.K. gets denounced," Ben Habib, founder of the Advance UK political party, told Fox News Digital. "DEI cannot bear strong nations – it wants them set aside so minorities feel at ‘home.’"

Habib also notes there’s an added complication with the Union Jack and St. George's cross – they both represent Christian saints. "That is offensive to the growing numbers practicing foreign religions in the U.K.," he told Fox News Digital.

Much of this flag-hating began following the invasion of Israel by Hamas, an Iran-backed terrorist organization. The U.K. then witnessed a surge in Palestinian flags flying on public buildings. This upset more than a few British patriots, who then stepped out with the British flags. "We need to start cohering around national stories and symbols, and the flag is the most visual way of doing that," Colin Brazier, a British culture commentator, had previously told Fox News Digital.

Planning authorities, usually the local U.K. councils, do not need to grant permission for people to fly either the Union Jack flag or the St. George's Cross. Other flags are seen as an advertisement. However, spray-painting a St. George's Cross on a building that’s not yours is not allowed.

Despite the George Cross being seen as anti-immigrant in the U.K., the historical St. George, who died approximately 1,700 years ago, is mentioned in the Koran as a friend of Moses. And some religious scholars suggest he is a servant of God.

At the same time, Britain’s economy has slowed to a near total stop under the present center-left Starmer government. The unemployment rate increased to 5.4% in December, up from 3.6% in August 2022, according to data from Trading Economics. The country’s GDP growth has been stuck at 1% or less since the first quarter of 2022. 

Part of the rush to take up flags may be the disastrous economy in Britain. One outstanding, poorly thought-through government policy came from the Labor Party, which mandated an increase in National Insurance contributions (the U.S. equivalent to FICA) by corporations, undermining any chance of increasing employment, as the jump in costs effectively acted as a tax on employment.

Fox News Digital's Michael Saunders contributed to this report.

A devastated father in Iceland says he was stripped of his parental rights after speaking out against his 11-year-old autistic son's sex change — a case that has drawn international attention, including from billionaire Elon Musk — as he accuses the courts of prioritizing progressive ideology over a parent’s right to protect their child.

Alexandre Rocha, a French national who has lived in Iceland for 25 years, lost custody to the child’s mother in December and told Fox News Digital he believes the judge ruled against him because he questioned the long-term impacts of puberty blockers and hormone therapies.

"It should be a crime," Rocha said of the medical interventions. "You are molesting kids, castrating a boy, like in the case of my kid. This shouldn’t happen. This is an ideology that has no place for kids."

He argued that his then-10-year-old — whose worldview is shaped by video games like Minecraft and Roblox — could not comprehend the permanent consequences of sex reassignment.

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"Naturally, every kid [after a separation and autism diagnosis] will have a mental challenge," Rocha said. "The transition is a happy place. They do feel validated, they like the attention… To me, the concern is the long-term. Will they still be happy in four years from now, or six years, from having blockers and having more hormones? Is it really fixing what is underlying — the mental challenge or difficulty, whatever they're going through?"

Despite his child being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder just eight months ago, Rocha said the court and medical professionals "slightly passed over" the diagnosis during the trial. 

He noted that children on the autism spectrum often struggle with feeling "right in their skin" or "wanting to be something else," adding that his child sometimes prefers to be a cat — wearing a tail or cat ears.

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However, when he raised those concerns in court, Rocha said an Icelandic endocrinologist "totally dismissed" him under oath, guaranteeing the hormone drugs posed "no problem" and refusing to examine underlying mental health factors. 

Now cut out of the medical decision-making process, Rocha said he fears what treatment his son may be receiving without his knowledge.

"It could very well be that he is being treated with hormones and I don’t know anything about it," he said.

Rocha added that the child’s mother is pushing a "stronger ideology than ever," saying he had to use advanced artificial intelligence (AI) program ChatGPT to understand terms like "deadname," which refers to a person’s birth name before a sex change.

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"I can’t support this kind of speech. This, to me, is diabolical. It’s beyond love," he said. "When you talk about a kid, you can’t talk about death. It just doesn’t make sense to me."

Rocha said he was notified in February that the child’s mother formally changed his son’s name to a female name, "meaning his ID will now clearly state he is a girl."

The father said he believes the court's ruling was not about his child’s welfare, but rather a coordinated effort to silence dissent.

"It is to control parents. It is to control me," he said. "It is to silence me. It is to give all power to this ideology."

Rocha’s story has garnered international attention and recently caught Musk’s eye. 

The Tesla CEO has been outspoken about transgender issues after revealing his son, Xavier, transitioned to a female and now goes by the name Vivian Jenna Wilson.

Musk said he was "essentially tricked" into giving consent for Wilson to go on puberty blockers, before he had "any understanding of what was going on."

In response to a post about Rocha's story on popular X account @libsoftiktok, Musk said, "The woke mind virus even affects Iceland."

Rocha said he was "very surprised and honored" that Musk shared his story.

"I think we have a common fight going on," he said. "Because at the end of the day, we’re all parents, no matter the borders or nationalities."

Musk did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

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Beyond politics, Rocha said he misses everyday moments with his son, who he said he hasn't seen since January.

"I miss story time at night and cooking together," he said, noting how much he enjoyed sharing 1990s Steven Spielberg movies like "Jurassic Park" with his son. 

Rocha recently requested daily fines against the child's mother for obstructing his court-ordered visitation rights. 

The mother denied intentionally blocking the visits, claiming the child refuses to attend because Rocha rejects his transgender identity and does not use his new name, according to court documents.

Rocha provided a witness affidavit alleging their last visitation went smoothly and that the child appeared happy and secure in his presence.

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He recalled a recent visit where his son said he "missed it, to be with grandma and my sister."

"When you don’t know what’s happening on the other side, as a parent, you get really worried," Rocha said. "We are slowly drifting apart, and that’s a very sad outcome of this."

Despite pressure to stay quiet, Rocha urged other parents to trust their "instincts," speak up and seek professional guidance.

"I’m here for my kid and for his future," he said. "That’s the only thing I care about. I am campaigning for him, for his future."

The child's mother could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.