Best Of

Extraordinary

“REPORT: Church attendance among Gen Z has quadrupled in the UK, reversing the trend of declining Christian affiliation.

Gen Zers, many of whom didn’t even grow up in the church, say Christianity is providing them with answers they can’t find anywhere else.

“In 2018, just 4% of 18–24-year-olds said that they attended church at least monthly. Today, says The Quiet Revival, this has risen to 16% with young men increasing from 4% to 21%, and young women from 3 to 12%,” Bible Society reported.”

https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1941606020679344169?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

This is the great hope. There can be no true cultural revival of the West without rediscovering our magnificent religious tradition

16%? Would love to see their methodology.

Does scrolling past one religious tiktok count as a service?

Nobody is entirely sure. Here's some commentary from a sympathetic Church Mouse;

According to their data, 41% of the English and Welsh Church attendance in 2018 was in Anglican settings. Based on a total regular attendance of 3.7m people, we can calculate the Anglican attendance at around 1.5m. By 2024, Anglicans had reduced as a proportion to 34% but of a much larger reported attendance of 5.8m people, so we should be seeing an increase in attendance of around 500,000 to around 2m. In other words, the report claims that the Church of England has grown by a third since 2018.

The Church of England has a range of measures of attendance, but even its most favourable measure of the ‘worshipping community’ is 8% smaller in 2024 than it was in 2018. By stricter measures, such as the average Sunday attendance, the CofE is more like 20% down, despite small increases in numbers since the pandemic lows.

https://www.churchmousepublishing.co.uk/2025/05/confessions-of-quiet-revival-sceptic.html

Same goes for the Roman Catholics. The modelling in the polling isn't matching counts of people in pews.

Extraordinary

“REPORT: Church attendance among Gen Z has quadrupled in the UK, reversing the trend of declining Christian affiliation.

Gen Zers, many of whom didn’t even grow up in the church, say Christianity is providing them with answers they can’t find anywhere else.

“In 2018, just 4% of 18–24-year-olds said that they attended church at least monthly. Today, says The Quiet Revival, this has risen to 16% with young men increasing from 4% to 21%, and young women from 3 to 12%,” Bible Society reported.”

https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1941606020679344169?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

This is the great hope. There can be no true cultural revival of the West without rediscovering our magnificent religious tradition

Almost unbelievable.

Actually, there's no "almost" about it.

Hmm, it does appear to be based on a YouGov poll. Dunno if the age breakdown is a sub-sample (klaxon) though?

The other interesting thing from the report is it looks like Catholicism will overtake Anglicanism in the next few years. And it's mainly driven by immigration.

Drawn from a major poll by YouGov. This isn’t imaginary

https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/research/quiet-revival

I am not giving my details to the Bible Society just to scrutinise their numbers.

It suggests that attendance in the Catholic church has grown from about 800,000 to 1,800,000 in 6 years, while the Catholic church's own numbers are about 500,000. You will understand why PBers might be sceptical.

Phillipson is a bit crabby and tetchy on LauraK this morning.

Pressure. Pushing down on me.

I'm not a fan, but she seems to be doing very well to me. Not sure she is saying anything but very calm, quick speaking, not a single 'um', corrected a mis-speak very quickly. Really good at thinking on her feet.

She is a good speaker other than it is far too fast.

The BBC national treasure Laura Kuennsberg hates all Labour scumbags, she'll get the better of her by hook or by crook.

And why has Kuennsberg added the half-witted Paddy O'Connell to her already unlistenable and moronic podcast?

The hate for Kuennsberg among left wing men is remarkable. I don't really pay her much attention but I've never seen a coherent explanation of what is so bad about her.

I have to say her expressions on the BBC GE night programme last year suggested she wasn't overly enamoured with how events were unfolding in contrast to how Cecil Parkinson took the 1997 results in good humour - for crying out loud, Laura, it's only an election...

To be fair, she was the very model of restraint compared with how the Sky News Australia presenters reacted to the crushing of the LNP Coalition at their election. They were flailing around in their anger and despair.

As to "left wing men" - who are these people? I've met a men who played on the left wing for his football club - does that count?

This wouldn't have happened with Richard Dimbleby or Alvar Liddell...

MRP goodness from More in Common

A year from GE 2024 our MRP in @thetimes with @cazjwheeler finds Reform winners from Labour’s early stumbles. Tories/Lib Dems fight for third
➡️ REF UK 290 (+285)
🌹 LAB 126 (- 285)
🌳 CON 81 (-40)
🔶 LIB DEM 73 (+1)
🌍 GREEN 7 (+3)
🟡 SNP 42 (+33)
🟩 Plaid 4 (-)
⬜️ OTH 8 (+2)

To be honest, the More In Common MRP before the GE last year was Labour 430, Conservatives 126, LDs 52 so make of this (and that) what you will.

Like most other pollsters, MiC missed out local swings and changes so this MRP needs to have some salt (and popcorn) added for digestion.

I struggle with Labour on 126 simply because Labour haven't been below 200 in any election since 1945 and the concentrated nature of their vote makes me think they'll always have a solid number of seats in London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and elsewhere.

The Conservatives might draw some comfort from being slightly ahead of the LDs but again I'd question that on what might be both an actual 2.5% swing from Con to LD but also Reform tearing further chunks out of the Conservative vote but we'll see.

Badenoch is going to be facing some awkward questions as the election approaches if the numbers are as they are - would she support a minority Reform administration and what would be the nature of that support? As the LDs discovered, once you nump, you're likely to lose more supporters than you gain.

Assuming the LDs retain all of the lent GTTO votes they picked up in 2024 then a universal swing of 2.5% picks up about 5 Tory seats. It will entirely depend where the votes are being picked up and lost. I suspect the Tories are losing more in the North and Midlands than the South.
In any case at 28, 22, 21, 15, 8 a very small swing dramatically alters the outcome - 1 percent swing from reform to both Lab and Con and it all looks very different or another 1 percent Con to LD and its down to fourth for Con

But why would they retain the anti-tory vote in 2029 when it's much more likely that the nation will be split down the anti-reform and anti-labour lines. Those voters aren't anywhere close to being guaranteed to vote Lib Dem, especially in seats which look like either Labour or Reform aren't in contention so there's little to no tactical voting.

That's kind of my point. Ive said many times I expect some tactical unwind in the blue wall but I was pointing out here that even absent that unwind its a tough ask for the LDs to pick up many more Tory seats on these voting figures

With incumbency (i.e. proven they can win) and with an unpopular government, it will be easier for LD MPs to win over Labour supporters in their seats, than it was last time.

Extraordinary

“REPORT: Church attendance among Gen Z has quadrupled in the UK, reversing the trend of declining Christian affiliation.

Gen Zers, many of whom didn’t even grow up in the church, say Christianity is providing them with answers they can’t find anywhere else.

“In 2018, just 4% of 18–24-year-olds said that they attended church at least monthly. Today, says The Quiet Revival, this has risen to 16% with young men increasing from 4% to 21%, and young women from 3 to 12%,” Bible Society reported.”

https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1941606020679344169?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

This is the great hope. There can be no true cultural revival of the West without rediscovering our magnificent religious tradition

Almost unbelievable.

Actually, there's no "almost" about it.

Keir Starmer has literally zero authority left within his own Cabinet or his backbenchers, his premiership is hanging by a shoogle peg because he so loathed by his own Parliamentary party never mind the rest of the country right now. The markets didn't make Rachel Reeves safer after her distressing display at PMQs because they had any confidence in her, it just showed they were already very jittery at her being suddenly replaced by someone even weaker and even less competent who could only make the this Labour Government's current fiscal policy position even worse if that was even possible.

Rachel Reeves position was already toast the night night before when Keir Starmer caved into that massive Labour welfare bill backbench rebellion that totally wrote off what ever little econocomic credibility this government was left clinging too in their own heads. Has a backbench rebellion ever left its own government in such a weakened state this quickly that its now so holed below the water line and will be unable to recover from this? Its anyone's guess how long Starmer or Reeves will be able to limp along in charge but humiliatingly without any authority before they throw in the towel?! Is Angela Rayner now the defacto leader of the Labour party and god help us the new PM in waiting and about to take us back to the 1970's like an episode of Life on Mars?



Daily Mail - 'Tories warned Labour about Rachel Reeves' tears 17 minutes BEFORE PMQs started'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14878615/Tories-warned-Labour-Rachel-Reeves-tears-17-minutes-PMQs-started.html

"Keir Starmer's claim that he did not know Rachel Reeves was in tears was branded 'nonsense' last night after the Tories insisted they gave Labour 'early warning' of her distress.

Tory MPs revealed they alerted Labour whips to the fact that the Chancellor was weeping in the Commons to ensure she got help.

They say that was at 11.43am – 17 minutes before Prime Minister's Questions when Ms Reeves had tears rolling down her cheeks as she sat next to an apparently oblivious Sir Keir.

One Tory MP said: 'It simply beggars belief that with that much warning, the PM wasn't told."

...

One FBI guy's experience of the 'new' FBI under Trump:

"I recount those events more in sorrow than in anger. I love my country and our Constitution with a fervor that mere language will not allow me to articulate, and it pains me that my profession will no longer entail being their servant. As you know, my wife and I are expecting our first child this summer, and this decision will entail no small degree of hardship for us. But as our organization began to decay, I made a vow that I would comport myself in a manner that would allow me to look my son in the eye as I raised him."

Goodbye to All That
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/goodbye-to-all-that

Good Lord, that was a depressing read

The political capture of both law enforcement and the justice system is happening very rapidly, and far more blatantly than even I expected.

But at least it’s being captured by the right side. By American patriots

In the UK that capture is being done by people, agencies, cultures - that actively hate the UK

A true American patriot would be someone who respected the US Constitution, and was glad the US won the Civil War and World War II.

Not someone who hates the US Constitution (besides the 2nd Amendment), and flies the flag of America's enemy in either the Civil War or WWII.

I don't know if you can really call flying the Confederate flag flying the flag of America's enemy. It was part of America.

...but it was the flag of a sect that didn't want to be part of America and went so far as to appoint its own President, Congress and courts, and violently fought against US forces