Posing as a Jacobite

In the life of every blog there comes the time to do some navel-gazing theological reflection, reviewing the subject-matter and reach of the site, and developing some conclusions. This is, we suppose, a largely fruitless as well as a self-absorbed tradition, but we are not in the business of questioning tradition here.

We advertise our letters as containing Anglo-catholicism, reaction and whimsy; but like all Church of England publications we actually cover mostly the gays, internal church politics, and nostalgia for an impossibly golden age. For most Anglicans this utopia is the 1950s: for us, true to form, the 1670s. Or possibly the 1630s. Certainly not the 1650s, though.

Sic Transit Benedict (inter caetera)

We know that some readers have been troubled by the non-appearance of a letter from Plumstead, worrying that we had been silenced by Royal Charter. Do not be afraid: for us the carnival is not over (though taking in the Church of England the more vernacular form of the Feast of Fools) and we will continue to tell you what to think abut the great issues of Church and State.

Diocesan Omission

It now seems that the reorganisation scheme planned for the dioceses of Bradford, Wakefield and Ripon is to go ahead. For those disinclined to read the whole thing, it is a merger of the three dioceses into one, although for secret reasons it is very important that we do not say so.

The Courage of His Convictions

Legal advice obliges me to point out that the title of this post does not refer to the member for Eastleigh. That gentleman aside, however, the Prime Minister should take no notice of the criticism levelled at him for offering knighthoods to former ministers.

We wish him to go further. We would not begrudge Lady Warsi's being a countess if Owen Paterson is made a baronet. And a dukedom is long overdue for the Marquess of Salisbury. Mr Daubeny made a duke, and people think more of that than anything he did.

A Small Change with Great Consequences

The substance of yesterday's Cabinet reshuffle will not interest us. The only appointment of note is that of the new Lord Chancellor: the first non-lawyer, apparently, to hold the office since Nicholas Heath, Chancellor under Queen Mary, 1555-1558.

Heath was at the same time Archbishop of York. Now if Dr Sentamu had been given Cabinet office yesterday that really would have been a story - as well as confirming the Plumstead Rectory theory of patronage.

Olympiolae in Olympia: the Real Medal Table

There is great excitement at the apparent successes of what I suppose we must call “Team GB”, but we fear this is misplaced. Team GB are said to be in third place in the medal table, but as far as we can tell the current standings, with two days to go, really look like this:

1. USA (so-called): two gold (pygme and decathalon) , one silver (decathalon).

2. Jamaica: one each of gold, silver and bronze (all in the stadion)

3. (=) Grenada (gold in the diaulos) and Russia (provisionally gold in the pale)

5. (=) the Dominican Republic, Japan, and Team GB (silver respectively in the diaulos, pale and pygme)

8. (=) Trinidad, Cuba, Ireland and Iran (bronzes in the diaulos, decathalon, pygme and pale)

Willing to Vote for Their Own Demise

 

The previous government attempted the reform of the House of Lords in two stages, but succeeded only in the first. All that the last government could achieve was the disgraceful expulsion of the hereditary peers, except the ninety-two happily redeemed by the present Marquess of Salisbury. No-one could agree on what should replace the hybrid arrangements left after 1999, and they cannot agree on it now.

I'm the Guy Who Found the Lost Cause

Government proposals for altering the nature of marriage have been made, which no member of the Church of England can possibly accept. These proposals are incoherent and badly drafted; and we believe that to impose a new meaning on a term so familiar and fundamental as “marriage” would be deeply unwise.

We refer, of course, to proposals by the unelected Lord Hardwicke to require the registration of marriages as a condition that they be legally recognised.

Take-away and Eat: This is my Body.

 

We have a branch of Greggs within two hundred yards of Plumstead Rectory, which is more than they can say in Downing Street. In the cause of local loyalty I should add that nearer still is a branch of Greggs' lesser-known Liverpool competitor Sayers, but I am not a regular customer of either establishment, nor (unlike our political class) do I feel the need to pretend to be. Incidentally, if the Prime Minister is reading this in his report from GHQ, we were not fooled.

The products of Greggs and Sayers are not at all to my taste: greasy outside, suspect inside and fundamentally un-nutritious. You can see how the political class might feel an affinity.

Sadly this is one area in which the Church of England, normally so out-of-touch, is thoroughly inculturated.

Budget Day

There can hardly be much to say about the contents of the Budget itself. Of course, all of us wish to see the prosperity of the country established, while maintaining our own political prejudices and benefiting our own pocketbooks. Here at Plumstead Rectory we favour for this purpose a large measure of tax relief for clergy of the Church of England, perhaps reverting to the system of the payment to the Exchequer of a nominal lump sum agreed by Convocation.