Nobody Cares about Britain

[Innula Zenovka]

The Trump launderers: Making the disgraceful respectable

Let's pretend it's a jolly jape

nickcohen.substack.com

I think this is free to read

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Priest Booted From Church After Imitating Musk’s Salute

The crowd reacted as Father Calvin Robinson topped off his remarks by repeating the controversial gesture.

www.thedailybeast.com

This character has been cosplaying a priest for several years now, primarily on GBTV (our pale imitation of Fox News) until they fired him recently. Now his church (neither Anglican nor Catholic, despite the name) has sacked him.

Maybe he could be Elmo's personal chaplain?

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Priest Booted From Church After Imitating Musk’s Salute

The crowd reacted as Father Calvin Robinson topped off his remarks by repeating the controversial gesture.

www.thedailybeast.com

This character has been cosplaying a priest for several years now, primarily on GBTV (our pale imitation of Fox News) until they fired him recently. Now his church (neither Anglican nor Catholic, despite the name) has sacked him.

Maybe he could be Elmo's personal chaplain?

A fist is a Roman face massage.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Guardian Australia (@australia.theguardian.com)

York Minster congregation outraged over ‘deeply inappropriate’ concert https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/31/york-minster-protest-plague-of-angels-concert?CMP=aus_bsky

bsky.app

Churchgoers have expressed outrage that two of the band’s members had previously performed with an extreme-metal group that sold what Rolling Stone described as “the most controversial shirt in rock history”. The T-shirt featured a topless nun masturbating and the words “Jesus is a cunt”.

A spokesperson said the cathedral was working with the organisers to “ensure this event aligns with our values, and we are really excited by the opportunities it affords to showcase the minster’s musical tradition, building, and the diversity of the people who find a home here”.

The Very Revd Dominic Barrington, the dean of York, said it was “regrettable” that two Plague of Angels musicians previously performed with a band that “espoused anti-Christian sentiments”. However, he said the incident “in no way reflects the contents of the concert we are planning for York Minster; this will be entirely suitable for a cathedral church”.

 

[Casey Pelous]

The T-shirt featured a topless nun masturbating and the words “Jesus is a cunt”.

You gotta admit, that one covers a lot of bases in short order.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Brexit cheerleaders have gone awfully quiet – so let me remind you what they did to Britain

If we do talk about it, we start to recognise the gulf between their words and reality

inews.co.uk

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Ripley Castle owners say retirement is behind reason for sale

Sir Thomas and Lady Ingilby say selling the estate will allow them to spend more time together.

www.bbc.co.uk

The owners of a 700-year-old castle and estate have said it has been a "privilege" to have been its custodians.

Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, has been the home of the Ingilby family since the 14th Century.

However, Sir Thomas and Lady Ingilby have put the property up for sale with a £21m price tag.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Gen Z think UK is racist and would not fight for their country

Definitive Times research gives a voice to a young generation who have become disillusioned with national institutions

www.thetimes.com

Evernote Link

We asked Gen Z what they thought of Britain. They didn’t hold back

From racism, sex and drugs to waging war and trans rights, a landmark Times survey explores what the UK’s youngest adults feel about their lives

www.thetimes.com

Evernote Link

 

[Innula Zenovka]

https://existentialcomics.com/comic/589

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

https://existentialcomics.com/comic/589

He forgot about the Jutes! Everyone forgets about the Jutes.
Also no one would understand him, and he'd wonder what the hell kind of weird Latin-tinged German mix all these Angles, Saxons...and Jutes, were speaking.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

And that French-German creole called ‘English’.

 

[Free]

And that French-German creole called ‘English’.

Pidgin, at best.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The Guardian (@theguardian.com)

Even Prince William doesn’t attend church – it’s time for a new Reformation | Simon Jenkins https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/15/church-of-england-prince-william-reformation?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=bsky_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1739607771

bsky.app

None of this need matter to a wider public were it not for one fact: parish churches are not just places of Christian worship. They are the biggest – and usually most beautiful – monument dominating the heart of almost every village and town in Britain. The national church may not matter to the nation, but the local church is prominent at the hub of almost every community. It represents history, ceremony, cultural activity and much of its charitable welfare. Everyone knows their church, even if few pay for it. The C of E’s accumulated repair liability now runs at more than £1bn, with 900 on Historic England’s heritage at risk register.

It is simply unrealistic for these glorious buildings to rely on tiny groups of mostly elderly people to look after and pay for them. Local churches and especially unused ones must be somehow transferred to their local communities, as happens across Europe, or they will go the way of medieval castles. Sooner or later they will collapse and die.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

In the light of recent events in Munich ...

Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy.bsky.social)

💥 Well how about that. After years of Brexiteers saying we had to leave the EU to avoid being forced into a European army… … it turns out that Brits are fine with the idea. With the UK explicitly included. A plurality of Tory voters support it - and even a fair chunk of Reform. How times change…

bsky.app

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Khamon]

I don't understand this. Housing prices have fallen because local councils are requiring that short term holiday leases be licensed (approved)?

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I don't understand this. Housing prices have fallen because local councils are requiring that short term holiday leases be licensed (approved)?

 

[Khamon]

Khamon Flibble is still confused.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I don't understand this. Housing prices have fallen because local councils are requiring that short term holiday leases be licensed (approved)?

If you can rent out your second home on AirBnB as a short term holiday let, you've have not only somewhere to spend weekends and vacations but also an asset that will appreciate in value and provide a very handy income for most of the year.


This makes homes in scenic rural areas very attractive investments, to the extent their prices are now unaffordable to local residents, since wages in scenic rural areas tend to be low. Similarly, it's removed a lot of rental property from the long-term residential market, since it's now far more lucrative to rent it out for short-term holiday lets than long-term to local families.

However, if you have to apply for planning permission before you can put it on AirBnB, that makes the properties far less attractive as investments, since in the present climate local councils will be very unwilling to allow local housing to be moved onto the short-term holiday let market, out of the reach of people who actually live and work in the area. The prices will therefore fall.

ETA: ChatGPT's summary, which seems pretty accurate

Local authorities in certain areas of England are implementing stricter planning permission controls on short-term holiday lets to address several community concerns. The rapid increase in short-term rentals has been linked to a reduction in available housing for local residents, leading to higher property prices and rents, which can price out local families and young people. Additionally, an overabundance of holiday lets can alter the character of communities and contribute to issues such as noise and antisocial behaviour. To mitigate these effects, the government announced in February 2024 that councils would have greater authority to manage short-term lets by requiring planning permission for properties intended for such use beyond 90 nights per year. This initiative includes the creation of a new planning 'use class' specifically for short-term lets and the establishment of a mandatory national register to help local authorities monitor and regulate these properties effectively. citeturn0search0


For further reading, you may find the following articles informative:

• Short-term lets rules to protect communities and keep homes available
• Short-term lets in England required to obtain planning permission
• Planning Permission for Airbnb and Holiday Lets in the UK

 

[Khamon]

That is interesting. Selma, on the other hand, is thrilled to have AirBnBs attracting tourists to stay in town rather than simply drive through to visit the historics. Increasing our residential property values will be a nice bonus as well. There is little danger here of gentrification locking locals out of purchasing a property so the idea of limiting the short term rental market didn't register.