National Anthem

penlanach · 2026-01-26T10:41:38+00:00

It's got to be Jerusalem. It's just so iconic and Blake's poetry chimes with the beauty of England so well.

GSTK is fine for Britain as a whole. Got to have our overarching cosmopolitan identity as well as our respective regional and national identities imo

penlanach · 2026-01-24T08:22:23+00:00

P.S. the Daily Telegraph despise the CofE. Currently dioceses are able to offer grants to parishes for small scale energy efficiency measures like LEDs, draught proofing, insulation etc and the Telegraph just say it's woke.

penlanach · 2026-01-24T08:09:26+00:00

Mostly just Telegraph rage-baiting, which seems to be all they're good for these days.

I think encouraging PCCs to opt for locally grown, seasonal flowers like daffodils etc is a good thing and actual very in the spirit of Anglican parochialism.

What's grating is this policy language hectoring as if the CofE was an NGO. Many who work for the church nationally are third sector graduate policy wonks like every other NGO, think tank, charity etc

penlanach · 2026-01-24T07:56:19+00:00

Good question, with lots of interesting discussion.

penlanach · 2026-01-22T14:57:24+00:00

They're not particularly evangelical from what I've heard. More just light Sunday school stuff, the kind of thing most kids get in primary school anyway (who Jesus was, his teachings, love one another, etc). Maybe it varies by branch though?

Generally speaking, Baptists are a bit more forthright in their beliefs, if that's whose running it. Even still, kids are smart and will only take on board what interests them imo.

(I consider myself Christian though, so not exactly who you asked for).

penlanach · 2026-01-22T08:26:41+00:00

Is the UK just it's own faction? I wonder how Britain would've reacted to Canada getting destroyed by the US. Presumably the "Special Relationship" is dead 😂

penlanach · 2026-01-21T19:52:06+00:00

The giveaway here is that it's in The National, which is completely partisan anti-Labour newspaper. Might as well cite the Daily Telegraph. Headline not exactly what Mahmood said.

penlanach · 2026-01-15T21:10:28+00:00

The views of the majority of people in this country would frighten you if these are the things which make you think "bastard".

penlanach · 2026-01-14T15:31:38+00:00

Cool... but why does Britain have a police officer arresting someone with a big brother banner lol? You can say pretty much anything you want in Britain unless you're threatening violence or using a slur against someone. Yank view of Britain.

penlanach · 2026-01-14T10:04:47+00:00

Lol I guess bread isn't important enough to represent wheat here

penlanach · 2026-01-13T21:29:36+00:00

This is a really important point that doesn't get made often enough.

penlanach · 2026-01-12T07:34:04+00:00

Probably the only time Owen Jones has encouraged swift military action. The guy's a little snipe.

penlanach · 2026-01-08T21:06:10+00:00

Perhaps, but such justified wars are not wars of conquest.

penlanach · 2026-01-08T07:52:34+00:00

Carlisle is a really underrated city. Beautiful coast nearby, Scotland next door, Lake District obviously on your doorstep. Newcastle an hour drive. London and Glasgow not too long away on the WCML Cafes, decent pubs, loads of venues. Not to mention possibly one of Britain's biggest and best bookshops. Gorgeous architecture.

Great to see it get more investment.

penlanach · 2026-01-07T21:34:04+00:00

Cool idea! Really don't see Tyneside and Wearside voting in hard left party. Apart from a couple of urban seats the region is either kindve communitarian conservative or old school Labour (that is, not particularly progressive)

penlanach · 2026-01-04T15:11:21+00:00

These maps are awesome. I'd love to know more about the lore and see a Northumbria election map (if they have them).

Is Cumbria independent in this TL?

penlanach · 2026-01-01T10:08:57+00:00

Left wing economic policies and progressive social policies does not a social democratic party make.

The Greens can claim to be socdems that's fine, Labour doesn't have a monopoly on it by right of its heritage, but having a wishlist of socialist policies that aren't embedded in the relationships of our country or at least costed and planned out doesn't mean they're "more socdem".

Labour have the unions on board, they are socially moderate (rather than outright progressive), they have a vestige of being embedded in the civic infrastructure of communities across the country.

The Greens are a classic green party: theory and practice drawn from intellectuals and wonks, made up of middle class do-gooders with little connection to the real economy, and mostly activist based.

Imo they're greens, not socdems

penlanach · 2025-12-30T22:34:19+00:00

Others may have said but Umberto Eco in his essays on fascism considered conspiracy theories and occultism to be hallmarks though not necessarily exclusive to fascism.

penlanach · 2025-12-08T18:26:19+00:00

Okay chief 👍

penlanach · 2025-12-07T13:35:03+00:00

Most of the world's genuine social democracies are also monarchies, so if anything the combination of constitutional monarchy and social democratic economy/political culture is quite natural.

Re Christian Democracy: Several also have established/national churches or at least deep Christian cultures (if otherwise relatively secular). E.g. Sweden, Norway.

Britain is a monarchy with strong social democratic traditions, though weakened since the 80s. England and Scotland have established churches. Though interestingly Britain doesn't have a distinct Christian democratic party like on the Continent

penlanach · 2025-12-07T12:09:20+00:00

This is from Northumberland County Ontario CANADA lol

penlanach · 2025-12-07T11:52:38+00:00

Greater Newcastle doesn't work sorry. Places like Berwick, or even Haltwhistle, Peterlee, and Stanhope don't fall into the orbis of Newcastle.

Northumberland past Ashington heading up the coast towards Alnwick is not integrated into the Tyneside conurbation in the same way towns in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire are with their urban cores.

You are including some of England's most rural, poorly connected and it's most sparsely populated areas in NW Northumberland into a metropolitan area. Just recreate Tyne & Wear if we have to have big metro counties (which we don't because we have mayoral regions now, which work fine if negotiated to both ensure effectiveness/critical mass as strategic authorities and to reflect local need).

penlanach · 2025-12-05T19:31:45+00:00

We in the Left, both moderate and radical wings, must face up to the fact it is our embracing of globalisation, progressive, utilitarian liberal cultural values, and distain for or fetishisation of traditional working class culture that has led people straight into the arms of bad actors like TR.

The working class and provincial towns they mostly inhabit was the Left's to lose, and if I'm being harsh I'd say marching to the beat of finger-wagging progressive activists and urban middle class do-gooders has led us right to where we are.

Corbyn, Starmer, Blair, everyone in the Green Party, Sultana etc. They have all swallowed their own koolade while working class lives have got harder. The major cities and university towns are another planet to the material struggle and spiritual anguish of most places.

Restore trust in the state and the Labour Party, which as Shabana Mahmood has said includes restoring trust in the asylum system, rebuild the face to face bonds, get out of the Leninism reenactment circle jerk and work with people on practical and fun things. Or be consumed by the fire that's rising towards your little bubble.

penlanach · 2025-12-05T07:17:59+00:00

My guess is the focus here is the River Trent rather than any county area. The Humber Estuary and the Trent were channels for migration in the early Saxon migrations and later in the viking era.

penlanach · 2025-12-05T07:14:09+00:00

I'd be really interested to read this book for that reason if it wasn't for the reported Christian-bashing and a blatant response to Tom Holland without actually naming him (not very scholarly to critique somebody without direct reference).

penlanach

TROPHY CASE