Once upon a time, the aristocracy of England were almost all-powerful. Now in straightened financial situations, many have found that the only way to keep the lights on is to open their stately homes to the hoi polloi, allowing gawkers to wander through their estates looking at the items the aristocrats’ ancestors brought back from the colonies.
Apparently, this desperate need for revenue has now spread to the entirety of His Majesty’s realm. Beginning in 2025, visitors arriving in that polity will be required to pay an entrance fee. England becomes DisneyWorld – absent the sunshine and the smiling staff.
Travelers will need ‘permission’ and a fee to visit United Kingdom as part of new digitized system | Fox News
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OMG @Gavin! Julian Barnes must be chuckling. In 1998 he wrote a very funny book, “England,England“ the premise of which is the isle was turned into a giant theme park. Famous episodes from English history were constantly being re-enacted for tourists’ entertainment, very authentic. My fave line:
“There’s a bit of a problem with the smugglers, sir.”
“Oh? What are they doing?”
“Smuggling.”
Read it you’ll love it, it’s a laffriot! But I doubt Barnes thought it was a prophecy….
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In the movie Americathon, the entire place was turned into a theme park called “Limeyland”.
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So, tourists and people visiting friends or family will have to jump through hoops and pay a fee but illegal migrants on boats across the Channel get subsidized housing and some pocket money.
Got it.
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Good point! There is the basis for a business opportunity there. Arrange for travelers to fly to France, get an exciting boat ride across the English Channel, and then collect the equivalent of a Biden Welcome Package when stepping onto the beach like Julius Caesar. There could be enough interested purchasers to make the venture quite profitable. Might even qualify for an EU subsidy!
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Well there goes my dream of leaving the US, traveling to the UK, buying a narrow-boat and living out my life on the canals of the UK.
Surely the fee for a non UK citizen to get a narrow-boat license will be out of reach.
Sigh…
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You still have the option of the canals of New York
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I bet the subsidy exists now. The Lutherans make good money bringing immigrants into the US. The Catholics are now getting their piece of the largesse. This is what the big boys in the Church hierarchy call charity. Close down the local Catholic schools and colleges and use those donations to set up the Hoe
Chi Minh trail for immigrants into the US.
No operation this large can happen without a large amount of funding. Only governments have the funds to support it without the funding source being obvious.
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